


Intertwined feelings

by AtroceIronie



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Basically they are connected through pain, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Free-Time Events, Komaeda and Hinata aren't the only one to be connected, Komahina centered, Multi, Spoilers, Understanding, a Kiznaiver AU, but you don't have to know about Kiznaiver to understand this, might be some other relationships in the future, takes place after the first trial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 01:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 49,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7782124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtroceIronie/pseuds/AtroceIronie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not long after the first trial, Hinata wakes up only to discover that Komaeda and himself are connected through pain ; if one of them is injured, the other will feel it.<br/>What if, as their relationship grow, they started sharing more and more than just pain ?</p><p>Maybe it could be the chance for Hinata to understand the elusive mess that is Komaeda's mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo this is basically a Kiznaiver AU, well only for the "sharing the pain" part because it won't follow the Kiznaiver plot or include any of the characters. I just thought it would fit really well in the setting of Danganronpa 2. Also, after the last episodes of the anime, I really needed to write some komahina. It's not my first time writing it, but it is my first time publishing it!  
> I really hope you'll like it, I'll try to update as much as possible !

The day had started like any other. When Hinata woke up to the usual Monokuma annoucement, a few ray of lights had already made their way into his room. The second he opened his eyes, he was reminded of the everything that happened until now. Their leader, Togami, who gave them all hope, had been killed by Hanamura who was executed when they found him guilty. And the one person Hinata had felt the closest to turned out to be probably the most dangerous person alive. The worst part was that Komaeda didn't even seem to think he did anything wrong, it wasn't an accident at all and he would probably didn't regret it one bit. He wished he could understand him ; that way, maybe the boy would finally leave his thoughts. 

He reluctanly got up and went to the shower. While he was washing himself, he suddendly froze when he looked at his wirst. 

Lying there innocently was a scar that looked like a symbol, which made it seem completely unnatural. He was sure it wasn't there when he went to sleep, and the thought made him panick ; someone must have inflicted it to him while he was asleep. Unless he somehow lost his memories again, but that wasn't likely -although not impossible. 

Whatever that scar was, it made him anxious. Why was it there? Who could have done this to him? He always made sure his cottage door was locked numerous times before falling asleep. It didn't hurt either, and he didn't seem to have any injuries except this one, so why was it there? The emplacement was odd too ; did someone try cutting his wrist ? 

Figuring it was useless to simply stay in the shower waiting for explanations, he got out and put on his clothes. Stressed about this situation, it had taken him longer than usual to get ready for the day, and when he got out of his room, there was no one outside. _They must already be at the restaurant,_ he thought. He sped up his pace and when he got in the hotel hall, he noticed that even Nanami wasn't there playing arcade games but he heard some commotion upstairs, which made him follow the noise. 

“It's gotta be Monokuma again! There's no other way! I bet he implanted bombs in our wrists or something weird like that, and he's gonna blow us up if we don't kill someone !” he heard Souda say.

“Waaah ! I don't want to be blown up !” Tsumiki replied.

“I guess I'm not the only one with a weird scar on my wrist?” Hinata hesitantly inquired.

“It would seem the last one has arrived.” Tanaka stated, looking at Hinata.

“Now that everyone's here, maybe we should talk about what happened... Does anyone know something about these scars ?” Koizumi asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Ah, but I have a good feeling about this! Even if this is bad luck, something good will happen to us afterwards !” Komaeda said cheerfuly. 

His words, combined to the stress there were all subject to, made Souda outraged. 

“You bastard! It's gotta be your fault! After how you acted during the trial, it's obvious that you're a traitor and that this is all you're doing !” 

“Of course, I understand why you think that.” he simply answered.

“You're not even denying it ! That's it, you're going to get this of me right now, or else...”

"Or else what ?” Komaeda asked innocently.

"I'll punch you !"

"Now, now, there's no need to use violence." Koizumi scoled.

"Yeah Souda, if this guy has to be punched, it'll be by me !" Owari broke in.

True to her words, punched Komaeda with all her might in the guts. And that's when it happened.

Hinata, who was standing a bit farther away, suddenly felt a strong pain in his stomach and let out a surprised yelp. He looked at his wrist and saw that it was somehow displaying a message : “KN”.

“What the hell just happened ?” he murmured to himself.

“Oi, Hinata, why are you acting like you're in pain? I punched Komaeda, not you !” Owari taunted.

“No, I... Just now, when you punched Komaeda, I felt it too!”

“You... What ?"

 _Maybe... Just maybe..._ He started to think about the cause of all this. To try out his theory, he pinched himself.

“Ouch !” Komaeda yelped.

“Did you feel that ?!”

“Yeah... I did...” he said thoughtfully.

“What are you too talking about ?! Hinata, are you working with this guy ?” Souda seemed panicked.

Before Hinata could answer, Nanami interrupted :

“I wanna try it too...” then she pinched herself.

“Why did I feel that ?” Sonia wondered.

“What? No way!” Soudasaid before pinching himself, earning confusion from Tanaka.

“How? How is it possible for I, Gundham Tanaka, to be bonded to a mere human ? Who could have forged such a mystical bond ? Could it be... The unspeakable Demon King has finally tried to take revenge on my actions ?"

“Of all people, did it really have to be him...”

And at this point, everyone tried pinching themselves, earning reactions from others. After a while, Hinata summarized :

“So, if I got this right, all of us are connected through pain to another person, and it goes like this... Nanami and Sonia, Pekoyama and Kuruzyuu, Tanaka and Souda, Nidai and Owari, Saionji and Tsumiki, Koizumi and Ibuki and... Komaeda and I.”

“I can't believe I share the pain of this ugly pig!”

“I'm sorry! I'll try not to be in pain ever !”

Most people started complaining when a foreign voice chimed in :

“What a weird situation riiiight?”

Everyone stopped talking and looked at the owner of this voice. Monokuma had suddenly appeared like he always did and was looking at them, snickering to himself.

“You! Explain yourself! Why did you do that ?” Nidai shouted agressively at the bear. Surprisingly, Monokuma looked down.

“Unfortunately... I'm as clueless are you are here. I didn't do that. I have an idea of who did it, but I don't know how or why.” 

“You expect us to believe that ? If you didn't do it, who did ?” 

“Well, the same people who trapped you on this island of course ! Ask Monomi, maybe she'll know more than I do ! Upupupupu !” 

After those words, he disappeared only to be replaced for Monomi who was standing there, trembling. 

“H-Hello everyone...”

“That thing is back again... It's okay if I hit it, right? No one is bonded to it or anything ?” Owari asked, preparing to fight Monomi. 

“Mmh, it would be better if we asked her about our situation, don't you think ? If Monokuma is telling the truth, she could tell us some important informations.” Nanami hinted.

“Yeah, you're right.” Hinata agreed. “So, Monomi, do you have anything to share with us ?”

“You better start talking !” Souda yelled.

“We... We did it to help another murder from happening... We believe that if you share someone else's pain, you'd be able to understand what they're going through and it will create a great bond between all of you !”

“But why would you bond us by groups of two ? If someone tries to kill someone else, they'll just have to murder anyone they're not bonded to!” Koizumi inquired before anyone could shout at the bunny who admitted being part of the plan.

“That is true... However, we have tried in the past to bond a group of people together, and it ended badly, with one person receiving the pain of everyone else, instead of it being equally shared. To prevent that, we stopped at groups of two! And to prevent murders, we paired you strategically !”

“Wait. What do you mean strategically ?”

“I'm so sorry, I can't explain how we chose the groups! But it'll make sense to you, I promise !”

“That is so stupid.” Kuzuryuu said harshly. “There's no way I'm staying a minute longer with all of you.” And with those words, he left.

“Woaaah! He looked really pissed off, didn't he?” Ibuki exclaimed.

“Indeed.” Pekoyama answered, and for a second, Hinata thought he saw a hint of worry on her usual poker face.

 No one had anything else to add, so eventually everyone scattered, some of them deciding to talk with their “bonded”, others simply ignoring them. Hinata was walking back to his cottage, when he heard a voice calling after him : 

“Hinata-kun !” 

“Oh, hey Komaeda. What is it ?” 

“I... I just wanted to apologize. I can't imagine how disgusted you must be at the idea of being bonded with me..." 

“Well, it's not really your fault, so you don't have to apologize...” 

“But it is ! It's my fault !” 

“What do you mean it's your fault ? Are you saying you're the traitor ?” he asked skeptically. The other shook his head. 

“I'm not. It's just that it's probably because of my luck that we're all in this situation... It's such bad luck that one of the Ultimates has to go through this with me. But, at the same time, I'm sure something really good will come out of this, and I can't wait to see what it is !” 

Hinata sighed. 

“Well, I don't know what this will bring, but for now, just try not to hurt yourself, okay ?” 

“I'll do my best. Although I'm not sure if I can control it...” he muttered. 

Not sure what he was talking about, Hinata decided to simply ignore it for now and go to his cottage. But Komaeda wasn't making an attempt to move, and looked at the brunette expectantly. Hinata stopped in his track, unsure what to say. He had nothing to do today, so he figured, maybe... 

“Uh... Do you want to hang out ?” 

Komaeda looked at him, surprised. 

“You want to spend time with me? I thought after what happened today, and at the trial, you would be sick of me !” 

“I'm not. Not that we're “bonded”, I guess we should try to get to know each other ? I'm still pissed at you for what you did, but at the same time... I want to understand you.” His words made Komaeda flash an honest smile that Hinata couldn't help but find beautiful. 

“You're really kind. I would love to spend time with you ; after all, everyone else hates me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this!!  
> Please forgive me for any english mistakes, english isn't my first language, so don't hesitate to point them out.  
> Do tell me if I wasn't clear enough about my explanation of the whole sharing pain thing, it seems easy to understand to me because I watched Kiznaiver but I have no idea what it looks like from someone who hasn't.  
> I didn't know how to describe the scar, so if you're curious about what it looks like, follow this link > https://cloudedanime.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/kiznaiver-02-05.jpg
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter should be up in the next days, in the meantime, kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	2. Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Komaeda spend the morning together, and try to understand each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read the first chapter, I'm glad you liked it and I hope you'll like this one too! It's less dialogue-heavy than the previous one, because they don't interact with the others so I don't actually have to try to make everyone talk. Also a bit of Komaeda's POV at the end ~

They spent the morning together, trying to make small-talk. Hinata couldn't help but think about how weird it felt to talk to him like this, like they weren't trapped on an island with no memories of the past few years, forced to kill each other, and like the other wasn't a dangerous person who had actually planned to kill someone and was now sharing his pain. Then, Komaeda started talking about what hope meant to him.

“Hope is a positive force... Everything created by it is an absolute good !” he marveled. Hinata noted how different he was whenever he was talking hope. Of course, he'd been able to witness this difference during the trial, but ever since the other wasn't hiding his true self anymore, he could see it happen during normal conversations. He was able to see the way his eyes lit up and widened, the way he flashed this peculiar smile that was reserved to this specific word, and how he looked up at the sky, which made it seem like he was talking to something that was beyond reality.

In Hinata's eyes, he was both frightening and beautiful when he looked like that. It was a reminder of what he was capable of ; but also that beside every bad things about him, he was still the boy he first met on the beach. The same boy who stayed with him while he was unconscious when everyone else left, who guided him through the island and introduced him to the others, who helped him investigate... 

He didn't know where all this empathy for Komaeda came from, but it was there. And Hinata hated himself for thinking about forgiving him. After all, it was his fault that two of their friends died. Of course, he didn't force Hanamura to kill Togami, but he encouraged it to happen. But despite all of what he did, the thought of not understanding the person in front of him made him scared. There was no mistaking that the way he acted was wrong, but maybe he was just someone who went the wrong path in life, and maybe he could still change. Unfortunately, when Hinata thought about that, it seemed highly unlikely. He'd always been more pessimistic than optimistic, but whenever he tried to imagine Komaeda changing to become a better person, someone that could actually be trusted, the image of him laughing maniacally during the trial resurfaced, carved into his mind. 

After some time spent talking, Hinata wasn't sure if he completely understood the other, but he did feel at least a bit closer to this point. Eventually, they started mentioning the events of the day. 

“This morning, when Owari punched you, the scar displayed the letters “KN”. It was weird to see it display something...” 

“That's interesting... When you pinched yourself, my wrist displayed “HH”. So it shows the initials of the person who received the pain in the first place ! How wonderful !” 

“Why is that wonderful ?” 

“Well, it gives us information about all this. First, we know that it can display messages, right ? Maybe the organization who did this will try to communicate with us ! Also, think about it... Why would they need to show initials in a group of two ?” 

“That.... That is curious...” 

“It must mean that what Monomi said is true, and that they were originally planned for groups of higher numbers ! And maybe this idea wasn't completely discarded, and their goal is to bond all of us together by the end of this “trip” !” 

“I guess that's a possibility. But for now, I think just being connected to another person is weird enough as it is...” 

“Well, in any case, I can't wait to see how this will all play out !” Komaeda beamed. Hinata could tell he was really happy about the possibility of everybody being connected to each other, but he personally thought it might be too much for him. 

After this conversation, Hinata finally got back to his cottage and collapsed on his bed. It was barely noon, but the events of the day had completely worn him out. He tried not to think about everything, but he couldn't help it. 

It was so odd, knowing that if he hurt himself right now, someone else would be able to tell... Especially with that someone being Komaeda. And this morning, feeling the pain of a punch without actually being hit, that was something he wasn't sure he could get used to so soon. He shook his head, trying to think about anything else before that got him a headache. _Ugh, it's too late, my head's already hurting... Wait. Holy shit, it's hurting me way more than it ever has !_ When he looked at his wrist, Komaeda's initials were standing there. _Didn't Monomi talked about pain being shared equally ? Why is it hurting so much ? Is this a natural occurrence for Komaeda ? Should I check on him ?_  

He hesitated for a long time, not knowing the rights answers to his own questions, but eventually he got up to knock on Komaeda's cottage. The other opened not long after, not seeming like he was in pain at all. 

“Hinata-kun ! I did not expect to see you so soon. Is everything alright ?” he questioned.

“I should be the one asking you that. I got a really bad headache and I saw your initials on my wrist, so I wanted to check on you.” That made Komaeda noticeably worried. 

“I didn't think you would be able to feel that too ! I thought this only worked for external injuries, but I guess I was wrong... I'm terribly sorry, Hinata-kun, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. Except kill myself, of course, but I would prefer if it were yo-” 

“It's alright, no need to kill yourself over a headache, I'm pretty sure I'll survive this. But you don't look like it's bothering you at all, is this... normal to you ?” 

“Yes, I'm afraid it happens quite often, so I'm used to it now. I'm terribly sorry that you have to feel it too...” 

“It's fine, really. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm kinda glad I feel this.” Komaeda shot him a curious look, not understanding what Hinata was trying to say, so he continued. 

“Well, Monomi said the pain was shared equally, right? That means if we weren't bonded, you'd feel twice this pain. And it's already painful enough like this...” Hinata explained. It wasn't anything unbearable, but Hinata rarely got any headaches so he wasn't used to it. If what he felt at this moment was half of the pain, he felt sorry for Komaeda who got used to feel twice as bad. 

They were staring at each other in the eyes, Hinata trying to look somewhat reassuring, and Komaeda looking genuinely surprised. Then, he was looking down, like he wasn't daring to look up. His hair was obscuring his face, but Hinata thought he could see the hint of a smile that the other was trying to repress. In a gentle but uneven voice, he said :

“I suppose that's true... Thank you for you concern, Hinata-kun. I'll see you later.” and then he closed his door precipitously, before Hinata could add anything.

_Did I say something wrong ? I don't think I did, but... He seemed really shaken._

 

 ______________________

 

After Komaeda closed the door of his cottage, he immediately pressed his back against it and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He put his head in his arms and closed his eyes. There were so many questions that passed through his mind, but one stood out from the others : 

 _Why does he care ?_  

And he couldn't find the answer, no matter how hard he tried. He had felt saddened when even Hinata was mad at him for his true self, but now, he actually talked to him. Maybe it was just because they were connected to each other, or maybe he did want to understand him. And no matter how hard he tried to repress it, it made him happy. _You shouldn't be happy about this, he's an Ultimate, of course he's a great person. It doesn't mean he tolerates you,_ he tried to convince himself. But when he replayed their conversation in his mind, it didn't seem true anymore. _It's selfish to think like that. You're a stepping stone, you can't actually imagine becoming friends with him._ It seemed obvious that he was useless compared to everyone else on the island. He shouldn't start caring so much about someone, because he would start expecting something in return.

But, when he thought about those eyes looking at him like he was  _worth_ something, he thought he could allow himself to be a little selfish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This included Komaeda's second free-time event, but I didn't actually wrote it entirely because you probably already know it so I just put one sentence from it :p  
> The next chapter will hopefully be posted in a few days, probably friday, and I'll try to make it longer, so see you then !


	3. Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone learns a bit more about their connections.

When dinner came, it was the opportunity for everyone to talk about what they had experienced.

“Did anyone learn anything about these bonds ?” Sonia questioned.

“What I learned is that they're a real pain in the ass ! Now I can't fight with Nidai without being hurt too !”

“Anything that we didn't know ?”

“Well, in case anyone hadn't noticed, when the person you're connected to is hurt externally, the scar displays their initials, but that's about it.” Nanami observed.

“Why did you precise _externally_ ?” asked Pekoyama.

“Well,” it was Sonia who responded “I had a stomachache this afternoon. When I asked Nanami about it, she told me she hadn't felt anything.”

Instinctively, Hinata looked at Komaeda perplexedly. The other was looking back at him with the same look of confusion.

“Wait... That's not right... Komaeda had a headache earlier, and I felt it too !” Hinata chimed in.

“You did ?” Nanami asked, looking surprisingly interested for once : which means that instead of looking bored and half-asleep, she actually widened her eyes a bit more than usual and looked vaguely at Hinata. “Are you sure ?”

“Yeah ! It even displayed his initials on my wrist.”

“That's weird, I think...” she hummed, before returning to her usual self.

“Hinata-kun ! Komaeda-kun ! You were able to share an internal injury ?” Monomi interjected.

“Woah, where did she came from ?”

“Y-yeah... Is that important ?”

“It's not important, it's super important ! It's crucial !”

“So it is important.” Komaeda said with a chuckle. “Care to explain why ?”

“Well, you see, the deeper the bond between two persons, the more they share ! For example, two strangers connected by this system will only share pain due to external injuries, but if those strangers become best friends, they might be able to share the pain of internal injuries, and even emotional pain ! Like sadness, betrayal...”

Hinata understood perfectly. And yet, it didn't feel right. Did that mean that Komaeda and Hinata... shared... a deep emotional bond ? Were they the only one to feel that ? They only had Sonia and Nanami as a reference, and the two barely talk to each other, so maybe it wasn't that rare...

“Anyway, we've done lots of experiences, and a bond like that is rare, but not completely uncommon... I mean, it's not nearly as rare as if you shared emotional pain ! Well, keep up the good work, you two !” And on this note, she made her way out looking happier than when she came in, leaving the restaurant in utter silence, and Hinata drowning in his own thoughts. Souda was the one to break the silence :

“Dude, I can't believe you're actually close to this weirdo ! Don't tell me you're planning a murder together or something ?!”

“Souda ! Do not talk about your classmates like that ! The bond they share is one we should all try to aim for ! If we all bond like they did, I believe we will all be able to stop this killing, because we will work together as an unbreakable team !” Sonia declared.

“Sonia-san ! You're right, I'm sorry !”

“Well, there's no need to overdo it...” Hinata started.

“We must all be friends !” she insisted.

“Hmpf ! As if I'd want to be friends with that bitch !” Saionji complained.

“Well, it's useless to force people to be friends, but I guess it would be nice if we were all able to work together.” Koizumi offered.

“Koizumi-chan ! Let's do our best !!” Ibuki sang.

After their conversation, everyone went back to their room, but Komaeda called Hinata.

“What is it ?”

“I'm really sorry, you must be disgusted and very much inconvenienced by what Monomi said... I already felt bad that you had to be affected by my headache, but now that I know you shouldn't, I feel even worse. It's completely my fault...” Komaeda said, sighing. He was looking down, eyes filled with sadness, and Hinata couldn't understand why.

“What do you mean ? I don't see how this is your fault.” Komaeda looked up, wearing the same expression as before.

“Of course this is my fault ! Monomi said it's rare after all ! So it's whether because of my luck,” he paused, “or because of my... admiration for you.” he murmured, thoughtful, then quickly added, “You're a Symbol of Hope, after all ! I don't see how this connection could come from your side.”

“Well, she didn't precise it, but I think a bond like that has to be somewhat reciprocal, right ?” he responded, but then realized what it implied and regretted immediately. _It's not like I really like him, but just that I think I tolerate him..._ he thought, but then turned around to end the conversation before the other saw him blushing. “A-anyway, see you tomorrow I guess.” and quickly left.

Once the brunette arrived at his cottage, he immediately went to bed, not having anything else to do. He didn't want to overthink everything, but it's not like it was weird to do so. When did he get close to Komaeda ? Was it before the first trial, when he hadn't discovered his true self ? Because he knew that when he did, he had felt betrayed. They didn't have an unbreakable friendship and Komaeda didn't owe him anything, so it was strange to even feel betrayed, but for some reason he did.

Maybe it was everything that happened afterwards, even if not much time had passed since then ; barely a day. After all, when they talked earlier, in a way, they had been rebuilding their trust in each other -and especially Hinata's trust in Komaeda. Maybe it was because somehow Hinata had started forgiving him despite everything that he did, even if he felt like he shouldn't. Maybe it was because he had made the decision to understand him when everyone else stopped talking to him.

But still, it didn't feel normal. How could they have developed a relationship strong enough to feel internal pain, even though it was (according to Monomi's words) rare ? Once again, there were too many questions passing through his mind and not enough answers.

He couldn't fall asleep and wished it was just morning already. Perhaps it was become of everything that was on his mind lately, but even before being on this island he already had problems with sleeping. After hours that felt too long, he eventually fell asleep. But when morning came, the night (but mostly the time he spent sleeping) felt too short.

He made his way to the restaurant. A few people were already there, and soon enough everyone had filled the room and were chatting together, more relaxed than the day before. Seeing all of his classmates chattering peacefully made Hinata happy, but it he couldn't really forget that two of them were missing, and he doubted anyone did. Still, he tried his best to look as if he got a decent amount of sleep and to be as cheerful as his friends.

Then, Monokuma appeared, scaring all of them (especially Souda), followed by Monomi who announced that she defeated one of the Monobeasts and that they could now access to a whole new island. How the small rabbit defeated the huge metal monster was a complete mystery, but he wasn't going to complain about seeing a new island.

He spent the day visiting the second island. He was glad to have access to more things, like a library and a dinner, but the thing that intrigued him the most were the ruins. Once Nanami asked everybody to gather in front of the strange building, they started examining the door and wondering what the password was. When they noticed the machine gun, they all decided against putting a random number to open it. But then, Hinata saw a light at the corner of his eyes.

His wrist was displaying something. Except, the message was flickering, like a computer screen being hacked. When he looked around him, he saw that everybody had the same reaction as him.

“Woaaah ! Look at that ! It looks even more futuristic than usual !” Ibuki exclaimed.

“Yeah, but... What is that ? It's not initials, and I don't feel any pain...” Koizumi wondered.

“Well, it's obviously something different from usual since we're all experiencing it.” Kuzuryuu mumbled.

“Is it just me or... Is the message a bit hard to read ? Maybe it's just mine, but … I actually can't read what it's saying at all...” Tsumiki added, unsure.

“It's not just you”, Pekoyama started.

“Ah... Those symbols... I don't recognize them anywhere ! Could it be, they come from a foreign alphabet ? But I know all the languages of the demon realm, it can't be... Where do they come from ? Perhaps a lost civilization of mortals ?” Tanaka ranted.

“I think it's a series of numbers, but I can't tell what they say for sure.” she continued.

A few seconds passed, and the message disappeared without any of them being able to know it's content.

“Well that was weird. Anyone knows what that means ?” Owari spoke.

“No idea. And how could we ? It wasn't readable you know !” Souda wheezed.

“Wait,” Komaeda chimed in. “Even if we don't know what it says, we can still guess it's content, don't you think ? I mean, for this to appear when we're all together in front of the ruins, it's too big of a coincidence, right ?”

“Gosh, if you have something to say, just say it already, don't try to make us guess it !” Saionji complained. Komaeda simply smiled in returned, and Hinata thought about his words. And it became obvious.

“I think I get what you mean... We were trying to open the door when we found out it had a password, and then we get this message, so it's gotta be the password, right ?” Komaeda nodded.

“Exactly ! Although one question remains : why did it come out illegible ?”

“The same persons who put us on this island gave us those scars, right ? So it must be to taunt us ! As if to say that they won't give us the password !” Owari offered.

“Well, it's not like we'll be able to answer that for now, so it's no use thinking about it so much.” Kuzuryuu declared, obviously not wanting to stay with them any longer.

On his words, the rest of the class left. The day was coming to an end, and Hinata was glad it wasn't as eventful at the one before. That is, until Monokuma made a special announcement for everyone to regroup at Jabberwock Park to introduce his latest motive ; the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! I really appreciate your kudos and comments, and I'm glad that you guys enjoy it!  
> You may be able to tell that I'm not exactly following Kiznaiver, but it's for the sake of the plot :D see you soon for the next update!


	4. Honesty

“This game's theme is a **missing link**.” Monokuma had said, right after introducing his game. They all decided not to play it, so they wouldn't fall in his trap again, but they couldn't know if someone chose not to respect their decision. In fact, for all Hinata knew, a day from now he could be the only one not to have played the game and he wouldn't be aware of it. He sighed loudly and laid on his bed, starring at the ceiling, and thankfully falling asleep not long after.

______________________

“Like hell I'm gonna let these bastards tell me what to do...” Kuzuryuu growled, talking to no one in particular. He arrived at Jabberwock Park, and made his way to the arcade machine with a determined look on his face. He played the game a first time easily.

“That can't be it, it's missing something...” he murmured, staring at the Game Over screen. “Down... five ? That's gotta be a clue. Maybe...” he started the game again, using the command, and smirked when he unlocked the true version of the game. He finished beating it and Monokuma appeared to give him an envelope. When he opened it, he saw the picture inside and began to shake.

“Wh...What the hell ? Is that...” he stuttered. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. He quickly put the picture back in the enveloppe and made his way to his cottage. He couldn't let anyone see him in this state. He was almost at his destination, until he bumped into Hinata.

“Huh ?”

“Hm ? Oh, it's you... Kuzuryuu...”

“Tch... How unlucky, I have to see your face this morning...”

He ended the conversation as fast as possible, but the other was perceptive ; and he ended up revealing he had played the game, and Hinata even saw the enveloppe. _Well, whatever, it's not like he's going to guess what's inside of it._

When he was done talking to him, he finally got into his cottage and immediately sat on his bed.

“Natsumi... You're not dead, right ? You're too tough to be killed, I know that more than anyone... So what the hell is this picture ?”

He wasn't even sure what to think. After all Monokuma had done, it was easy for him to modify a picture to his advantage. Plus, it was hard to believe that the first one to play the game and thus the only one to receive the prize was the person who was the most concerned by it. But still, even if he wasn't completely sure that it was the truth, it didn't seem like a lie either. And it hurt. It hurt so bad, to think that while he was stuck on this island, his sister was killed and he had no memory of it.

He was confused, and he was feeling too many things at the same time. He felt miserable but also fuming, he wanted to cry but at the same time he was terribly angry at everyone including himself, but mostly he felt alone. He felt abandoned, even if he was the one to push everyone away. He was angry for being stuck on this island, and yet he didn't want the help of his family. He barely even interacted with Peko, and yet he missed her so much. He would never admit, not even in his deepest thoughts, that he actually needed someone.

_I don't need anyone,_ he thought. _I can do this on my own. I can do this,_ he repeated like it would start making sense.

He would never admit the contrary. And yet, no matter how much he tried to push it away, there was a thought that kept coming back, hurting him more than anything else.

_I need someone._

Soon, that thought led to another, and more of them invaded his mind.

_I can't do anything on my own. I couldn't even protect my sister. I want someone to help me, but I hate anyone who tries to._

He shook his head furiously, as if it would help the thoughts go away. But they wouldn't. He wanted to laugh at himself for how contradictory he was being, but he didn't have the energy to do so. Then, the door burst open and a voice came with it :

“Young master !” 

_Peko._ He didn't know how long it had been since they talked. 

“Wh-What are you doing here ?” 

“I heard you.” 

“You what ?” 

“I don't know how to explain it, but I felt a sharp pain, more painful than any injuries... _Emotional_ pain. I knew you wanted to be left alone, but then I heard your voice. I-I heard you calling for someone. Tell me, what happened ?” 

“I don't need help ! I'm fine on my own, didn't I tell you ? I'm part of the Kuzuryuu Clan, you know. If I can't be left on my own, how could I even be the Ultimate Gangster ? Just go !” _Don't leave me._  

“Young master, I know that's not true. Please, tell me whatever is bothering you. I'm sure I can somewhat be of use to you. I heard you talk about your sister- did something happen to her ?” 

He hesitated, but eventually answered : 

“I played that game. Monokuma gave me a prize for finishing it first.” Kuzuryuu handed the brown enveloppe to her, and she opened it carefully. Eyes slightly widening at it's content. 

“I see. I am terribly sorry, Young Master. Please, tell me who did this to Natsumi, and I will avenge her.” 

“You don't need to. According to the game, it was some girl from the school that killed her, and she's dead.” 

“Maybe there was an accomplice then ?” 

“I... I think Koizumi helped.” she nodded in answer. 

“Very well. Then it's settled. I will murder her, even if the others might find out. Since I am merely your tool, you will be able to get out of here. And your sister will be fully avenged.”

“What? D-Don't say things like that ! You can't die for me, I won't let you !” 

“Young master, it is my duty to protect you. I've always been ready to die to save you, and now the day has come. There's no need to-” 

She was interrupted by a sharp pain, similar to the one she had felt earlier. They were both feeling it. 

“Young master ? Did... Did my words hurt you in some way ? I don't understand...” 

“Peko... You can't die for me. There's no way I'll let that happen, ever... I'd rather die for you than see the opposite happen. Don't you see ? I... I never needed a tool ! I only need you !” he yelled on the verge of tears. She didn't answer for a moment, obviously confused, and starting to tear up as well. 

“I... I'm so sorry... I thought this was the best way to help you, after what happened to your sister...” 

“I don't care about avenging her. Her murderer is already dead, nothing we do is going to change what happened now. The only thing you could to do help... Is being there for me. Having you, as a friend, by my side, makes me happy enough. And not as a tool, understood ?” 

“I would be glad to, Young master.” she simply answered, a shy smile on her face. The pain was now gone and Kuzuryuu heard a faint voice that he recognized, but not as his own. 

_Thank you._

“I-I think I just heard your voice, is that normal ?” 

“Yes, I believe it is the scar that permits us to sometimes hear each others thoughts. After all, we've known each other since we were children, so we must have an important bond, right ?” 

At first, he didn't answer. He simply looked at her. Peko- her face was so familiar to him. He wasn't sure he spent a single day without seeing her. She was probably more important to him than anyone in his family, even his sister. When she started talking about killing someone else, he was faced with the thought of losing her, and realized how unbearable that was for him. He didn't think ; and he pulled her in a tight hug. 

“Y-Young master ?” she questioned, surprised. 

“Don't go anywhere without me, alright ?” 

“Of course. I'll always be by your side.” she answered, returning the hug. 

_Always,_ he heard again, this time in his own mind. 

Although he'd been feeling so many negative emotions a few minutes earlier, knowing that he had Peko by his side made them all disappear. She made everything feel _right_ again. 

______________________

“Is Peko-chan okay ? I just saw her running from the restaurant, she seemed reaaaally panicked !” Ibuki exclaimed. 

“Yeah, she stood up out of nowhere and left in a hurry, she's such a weirdo !” Saionji complained. 

_She did seem troubled_ , Hinata thought. He wasn't sure of it, but he got a glimpse of her wrist and thought he saw something on it. _If that's true, Kuzuryuu must be in pain... But he seemed fine when I saw him earlier._

He brushed it of his mind, and ate his breakfast, chatting with his classmates. Despite Monokuma's brand-new motive, no one seemed to be feeling bad. _Maybe no one played it after all. Well, except for Kuzuryuu... I wonder if I should mention it..._  

But before he could decide, the two missing classmates entered the restaurant. Most people stopped talking when they saw them. 

“Woaaah! What are you two doing together ?” 

“We, uh... We have something we'd like to tell you.” Kuzuryuu stated. 

Everyone stopped talking, although a faint _“Are they gonna tell us they're engaged or something ?_ ” could be heard. 

“We haven't been completely honest with you. Well, mostly me. The truth is... We act like we've never met before, but Peko and I have known each other since we were born. 

“Wh- Are you... Are you saying you guys are siblings ? You don't resemble each other at all !” Owari interjected, skeptical. 

“No, we're not- Could you let me finish ?”

“My young master's family took me in at a very young age, and trained me to protect him.”

“ _Young master ?”_

“That's a lot to process...” Sonia admitted. 

“That's not the only thing I had to tell you. I played the game.” 

“You disappoint me ! You didn't resist the temptation, your will is weak !” Nidai shouted. 

“That's not what's important here. What was it about ?” Nanami asked gently. 

Kuzuryuu began explaining the contents of the game, how Koizumi, Saionji, Tsumiki and himself were included in it, and the fact that if the game was true, his own sister was murdered by a friend of them. Koizumi was troubled when she discovered she helped the murderer get away with it. 

“Kuzuryuu, I... I don't know what to say... I'm so sorry, you must hate me so much-” 

“Don't. I'm not saying I'm fine with it, but there's nothing we can do about it now. It's not like you were the one to kill her either.”

Koizumi looked down and stayed silent, obviously still affected by what she discovered. 

“I guess... That... Now Monokuma's motive is useless, right ? No one's gonna try to kill anyone, right ?” Souda asked worriedly. 

“Well, at least no one has a reason to now. I'm glad you shared this with us Kuzuryuu.” Nanami declared, a thankful smile on her face. 

“Wh-whatever. I still don't care about being friends with the rest of you or anything.”

“I'm so proud of my students !” Monomi exclaimed, appearing suddenly and receiving surprised looks from the class. 

“Ugh, that weird thing's here again...” 

“What do you want this time ?” 

“I simply wanted to congrat Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu !” she affirmed, earning a quiet “ _Seriously, are they getting married ? Because you it sounds like they're getting married !”_ from one of the students. “After all, thanks to your bond, you were able to avoid a really bad scenario ! You shared emotional pain, didn't you ?” Pekoyama nodded. 

“We also were able to hear each other's thoughts.”

“Are you serious ? That is so cool !” Owari affirmed while chewing her food.

Hinata's reaction was different. The first thing that passed through his mind was a panicked _Holy shit._ He was glad about everything Kuzuryuu had told them, because they might have avoided another murder now that Monokuma's motive was useless, but he couldn't help but imagine what would happen if he and Komaeda were eventually able to hear each other's thoughts. He didn't want anyone to hear what dumb things he was thinking about ; the fact that he had often thought in his life _Woah, I'm really glad no one can read my mind right now_ should be self-explanatory. 

But then, he imagined what it would be like to hear Komaeda's thoughts. On the one hand, it scared him to hear whatever the other boy could be thinking, but on the other hand, maybe it was finally the opportunity to understand him -so he wouldn't be as much of a threat. And yet, he wasn't sure if it was even possible. He looked at Komaeda for a second, but his face seemed completely neutral, in an almost unnatural way, not showing any emotions. He brought his attention back to Monomi who had began talking again. 

“-hearing each other's thoughts is even rarer than feeling emotional pain ! But I'm not completely surprised either, you've known each other for so long that we thought that if one of the groups could be able to achieve that, it would definitely be you !” she affirmed proudly.

“Okay, okay, there's not need to dwell on that subject.” Kuzuryuu was blushing and looking away, it was a rare and quite humorous sight.

“I am so glad you told us this, Kuzuryuu-kun ! This is the proof we really can work together !” Sonia chirped. Hinata agreed with her ; it seemed like Kuzuryuu had finally decided to be more friendly and open to the others, and that was all thanks to Pekoyama. Everyone chatted energetically, asking Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama about their past, and Hinata let all his worry about sharing thoughts with Komaeda go. _It's not like we're nearly as close as them,_ he thought, seeing how the two were looking at each other with such fondness and affection in their eyes. He didn't know why, but his heart slightly clenched at that sight, and instinctively he glanced towards Komaeda. Surprisingly, the latter was discreetly leaving the restaurant, and their eyes met briefly before he quickly made his way out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading !  
> As you can see this chapter was mostly KuzuPeko, and it's also a bit longer than usual :)  
> Although this fic will be mostly Komahina, I also want to explore like how the scenario of the game would be altered by this connection? And I thought that the second murder could have been avoided by Kuzuryuu talking with Peko before she murdered Koizumi  
> I barely read any KuzuPeko fanfics so I'm not really familiar with this ship, so I hope I didn't get them wrong or anything, if I did feel free to tell me ^^  
> Anyway I really hope you liked this! I also wanted to thank everyone who left kudos and comments, like I can't believe more than 100 people left kudos ! And your comments are all so nice ! It makes me soooo happy to know that people enjoy reading this !!


	5. Luck

_This is bad,_ Komaeda thought. _This is really bad._

He looked at the scar decorating his wrist. He had just learned that it was possible for it to allow Hinata and himself to hear each other's thoughts. And that was the last thing he wanted.

At first, he brushed it off, because how could _he_ ever have a friendship with Hinata strong enough for that to happen ? But then he actually thought about it. There was a possibility, after all, and he felt like his feelings for the brunette were something he couldn't comprehend and even less control. _Like my luck._

That thought made him break out in a cold sweat. Of course. It was not likely for him and Hinata to have a connection that could be compared to childhood friends like Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu, but his luck changed the odds. It always did. If that happened, he wouldn't be free to do anything like planning the first murder because he would be betrayed by his own thoughts. But most of all, if they ended up sharing thoughts, it would mean that Hinata _tolerates_ and even _likes_ him. If he heard his thoughts, he would start forgiving him. As much as he'd love to see that happen, he wasn't sure if he could let it. So many things could go happen on this island. He was used to planning everything that could go wrong when he chose to do something, to avoid hurting himself and mostly others, but this was different. He didn't know his classmates very well, and he couldn't anticipate how they would act. In short, he couldn't protect Hinata.

If they became friends, his luck might take Hinata away.

______________________

Hinata wasn't sure about what he should do. Komaeda's behavior was odd, and he was probably not feeling fine. It was strange, since the day had started really well for once. And now, he didn't know whether he should stay with everyone or follow Komaeda. The most logical thing to do would be to stay in the restaurant where everyone was happily chatting together, but doing so made his stomach tighten.

Finally making a decision, he stood up as discreetly as he could so no one would notice him, and if someone did, thankfully they didn't say anything when he left. He made his way to Komaeda's door and knocked. It opened after a few seconds to a slightly tensed boy.

“H-Hinata-kun ! What are you doing here ?”

“Well, you left the restaurant early and you didn't seem well, so I came to check on you... Are you alright ?”

“Of course I am ! I really appreciate you worrying about someone like me, but there's really no reason to.” he answered with a chuckle and his usual smile on his face that didn't seem sincere.

“Are you sure ? You're not plotting something weird, are you ?” he inquired. The other simply shook his head, which made Hinata soften. “Then... What is it ? If there's something that's not right, you can tell me.” he paused. Was he worried about Komaeda's feelings ? “I-I mean, it's better than keeping it to yourself and doing something bad afterwards.” he added, mostly to reassure himself.

“I'm really fine, I just... I didn't want to stay with the Ultimates when you were all having such a good time ! My presence would only have ruined it.” Hinata didn't believe that.

“If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But just know that I won't mind if you do.” he stated, earning a surprised expression from the other.

“I see... Well, then, maybe, uh... We could...” Komaeda paused, thoughtful, as if he was afraid of finishing his sentence. Hinata decided to help him.

“... Hang out ?” he proposed. Komaeda beamed.

“Exactly ! Hinata-kun, did you hear my thoughts ?” he said with a light chuckle. When he had this careless attitude, it made the brunette a little less scared of him. After all, despite his weirdness, he still was a teenager in the end. Definitely not an ordinary one, but a teenager nonetheless.

They decided to go to the second island since it was the most foreign one to them, and the one they had had the least time to explore. Komaeda explained to him how his luck worked.

“If everything that's happening right now seems like bad luck, it's all going to result in good luck in the end.”

He talked about how every time something bad happened, something good would follow. _So that's why he's happy about this whole situation..._ _I guess I can understand a little better his way of thinking, even if that's still messed up._ He was happy to be able to understand his classmate a bit more, even if it was still hard for him to imagine a day when they'll completely understand each other. He looked at his classmate, and surprisingly, he had a serious expression and an intense look in his eyes.

“That's why... I don't think we should talk to each other anymore.” Hinata made a surprised noise. He didn't expect that, especially after Komaeda had been the one to ask him to hang out -or try to at least. That hurt probably more than it should have.

“What ? Why is that ?”

“You've been really nice and understanding to me. More than I deserve. We've even developed some kind of relationship, since we shared internal pain. It's way too much good luck for me, and if we go on like this, the bad luck that'll follow... I'm afraid it's going to take you away, like it always does.” Komaeda confessed, looking away from Hinata. The latter didn't answer and stayed silent for a moment, pondering.

“I'm not going anywhere”, he simply stated. Komaeda looked up at him, surprised. “I mean, I'm not trying to deny how your luck works. After all, I don't think you're lying about it, and it sounds like an important thing to you so you must have your own reasons and experiences to think that. But... Don't you think that maybe, everyone getting along is the good luck you're waiting for ? You're part of the class, so that includes you.” He didn't even know why he was trying to make him change his mind, but the thought of not talking to him anymore... It made him inexplicably sad. Like he would be missing something -well, _someone_.

“I wish it were that simple, but something would eventually happen to you.”

“You don't know that. There's always something bad that might happen, with or without your luck involved. And even without hanging out with you, I'm already in danger here”, he admitted sadly. “Besides, life's about taking risks, you know ? Like, uh... There was that one writer that said something about that, I don't remember it very well... I think it was something like, 'Losing someone is hard, but it would be worse not having met them' ?” Hinata muttered, mentally slapping himself for not remembering it correctly. Komaeda smiled.

“Losing someone you loved is terrible, but the worst would have been not to have met them.” he mused.

“Ah ! That's it !” Hinata exclaimed, and blushed slightly thinking about what it insinuated.

“I get what you mean, Hinata-kun. Thank you for talking to me today, it really helped me clear some things up.” he said, starting to walk away.

“Oh, uh, no problem I guess ! But...” he started, not sure whether he should still talk to the other or if his decision hadn't change. Komaeda turned his head to look at Hinata.

“I'll see you at dinner.” he stated in a gentle voice and with a genuine smile that Hinata couldn't help but reciprocate.

_I guess he did change his mind._

______________________

When dinner came, Hinata sat a random table, and Souda soon sat next to him. Then spent the meal chatting, or mostly Souda complaining about being bonded to Tanaka.

“-I mean, out of everyone here, why did it have to be him ? I can't believe there was a chance for something to happen between Sonia-san and me and it didn't !” he whined.

“Well, look at the bright side ; at least she isn't bonded to one of the other guys. I think you would have died of jealousy.” Hinata answered.

“Oh my god, that would have been even worse ! Well, I'm still jealous of Nanami of course, but at least nothing's gonna happen between them.”

“You don't know that.” he said thoughtfully to tease the other. Souda looked at him, suddenly panicked.

“What do you mean ?! Oi, did something happen between them ? Do you know something ?” Souda inquired, worry on his face.

“Calm down, I'm just messing with you. I don't know anything about that.”

“Jeez, don't scare me like that... Anyway, I'm still so mad about all this. Tanaka won't stop bugging me about mystical things I don't understand all day. I wonder how I'm not going mad yet, after all the time I've spent with him.” Hinata raised an eyebrow at that.

“The time you've spent with him ?”

“Yeah ! He wouldn't stop following me from afar, so I figured it would be the best to just spent time with him, you know ? It's less creepy. But honestly, I don't think I could have been paired with someone worse than him. Well, except for Komaeda.” he paused, realizing what he just said. “Oh, yeah, you're connected to him ! Must be weird right ?”

“It's not that bad really”, he admitted. “He can actually be nice sometimes. And it's not like it's going to change my life anyway.” he finished, like he hadn't been thinking his whole life over since he was connected to Komaeda.

“Well, I guess that in the end it could have been worse for both of us, considering the weirdos we're connected to, right ?” Souda joked.

“I guess.” he answered, holding back the _It's not like you're the most normal person yourself_ that he was aching to say. “But, a little weirdness never hurt anyone right ?” _At_ _least I hope it didn't._

“If only it was just a little.” Souda sighed, earning a small laugh from Hinata. “But you're a little weird too, hanging out so much with Komaeda ! You guys are really close if you shared internal pain, since it's supposed to be rare.

“Well, you're quite close to Tanaka in case you haven't noticed.”

“What ? No way ! That idiot just won't stop following me !”

“You could just ignore him, but you choose to spend time with him. I think,” he smirked, “that you actually like spending time with him.”

“I don't !” he denied with an expression of slight shock.

“Don't worry, if he follows you like that, he obviously likes you too.”

“As a friend at most ! And if Tanaka likes me, Komaeda freaking loves you !” he protested, making Hinata's cheeks turn red.

“Wh-what ? That's not true, don't say things like that !” he stuttered, obviously embarrassed by the accusation. Souda took advantage of Hinata's awkwardness with new-found confidence.

“Seriously ? Ever since _this_ ”, he pointed at the scar, “happened to us, you've been hanging out together all the time !”

“Well, I'm not with him right now...”

“You want to bet on that ?” Souda asked, snickering.

“What do you m-” he started, before being interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Hinata-kun ! There you are !”

Hinata turned to see Komaeda walking towards with a bright smile.

“Oh, hey Komaeda. What's up ?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant when he was literally talking about him a second ago.

“Well, you see, I was wondering if... I mean, if it's not too much of a bother, maybe I could... join you for dinner ?” he hesitated, not looking directly at Hinata.

“Yeah, of course you can.” he answered, which made the other perk up and sit next to him. When he looked at Souda, he was looking back at him with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and focused on his food, and the three of them spent the rest of the meal chatting. However, Hinata couldn't get Souda's words out of his mind. He hadn't thought of it, but... could it be true ? Could Komaeda be in love with him ?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> This took a little more time to publish but it's finally here :p   
> As you may have noticed, this included Komaeda's 3rd free time event, but I altered it at the end ^^  
> The quote that Hinata forgot is from a french author named Marc Levy, and it's not even originally in english so I apologize for the most obscure reference ever that both Hinata and Komaeda would have like 0% chance of knowing lmao but it's the best one I could think of for this situation  
> Thank you for your comments and kudos, as always they make me very happy <3  
> I hope you enjoyed this!


	6. Emotions

Hinata found himself lying on his bed, staring at his cottage's ceiling like many other nights. Souda's words kept repeating over again inside his mind. He knew he meant it at a joke, to protest about Tanaka liking him, but it didn't seem completely unlikely, and it actually made him think. Was he only saying that because they were often together, or did he notice something else ? He couldn't know for sure if Komaeda loved him, but he found himself wondering ; _what about me ? How do I feel about him ?_

Those past few days, he did spend a lot of time with the other, thinking about him, or worrying about him. He had thought it was simply because he was concerned about what he could do, or because of their connection, but... He couldn't say with certainty that it was still the truth. Maybe his feelings were a bit more than just friendship ; maybe they always had been more. He wasn't sure about it and all those emotions were confusing. _It might just be sympathy, or even those scars that make me feel that way._ _Things will get clearer to me soon._

He turned off his lights to try to get some sleep. He closed his eyes, and after relaxing for a few minutes, he felt a really bad headache. He looked at his wrist, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Komaeda's initials. He sighed, and hoped the other was fine as he eventually drifted to sleep, wondering when it had become natural to worry about Komaeda so often.

______________________

When he woke up, his headache was thankfully gone. He went to the restaurant, only to find Monomi and Monokuma fighting -or mostly Monokuma hitting Monomi- while his classmates were having their breakfast, doing their best to ignore them.

“Why are you fighting ?” Hinata asked, unsure.

“Seems like someone is asking the right questions ! You see, Monomi here has decided to make my life a hell ! Not only did she make my last motive useless because of these stupid scars-”

“She did ? So... that means a murder was actually avoided ?” Hinata said, genuinely surprised but also really glad.

“Don't look so happy, it's going to make me mad ! Well, just because this motive became useless doesn't mean the others will, and rest assured that I have a lot more in store ! Anyway, back to Monomi, I'm not done with you, not after you defeated another one of my Monobeasts !”

“She did what ?”

“So we have access to another island ? That's so cool !” Ibuki chirped.

“No, it's not cool ! My Monobeasts are precious, you know ?” Monokuma protested.

“I hope there will be a gym in this island ! I still want to train, even without hitting Nidai.” Owari said, ignoring the bear.

“I'll be there to coach you in that case.”

“Hmpf ! Nobody cares about my Monobeasts, you're all so insensitive.” Monokuma complained before leaving, along with Monomi.

“A new island, huh...” Hinata said to himself. He doubted they would find anything that could allow them to leave this place, but they might find information about their situation. No matter what they would find, it was still nice to have access to new facilities.

______________________

Souda was on his way to the new island, when he heard a voice call after him.

“Mortal, you are forbidden to take one more step !”

He groaned, recognizing the owner of the voice instantly, and turned around to face Tanaka.

“You again ? What do you want ?”

“I suppose you are aiming to explore the new piece of land that was offered to you.” Souda nodded. “Very well then. I shall escort you. Now that we are connected through this mystical bond, I must assure you are not in any danger and keep you safe ; it is not your time yet.”

“Alright, alright, whatever...” he sighed, motioning him to follow him, and they started walking in a silence that made Souda feel awkward, even if Tanaka was probably unaware of it. He decided to start the conversation. “You don't have to make sure I'm safe, you know. It's kinda weird, and I don't see how it matters to you anyway.”

“You foolish human. You are unaware of the dangers which lie around you, thus you obviously need my protection. You should be thankful I'm offering it to you. And it would be... regrettable if you were to die.”

“Was that a threat or a disguised compliment ?”

“Take it as you wish. But know that I, Tanaka Gundham, would prefer if you remained alive.” he said, and turned his head away from Souda. The latter felt oddly content at his words, since it was rare to hear Tanaka expressing the slightest care for anyone. They spent the rest of the day visiting the island, with Souda being overjoyed when they saw the Electronic Town, unaware of how his excitement made Tanaka smile slightly.

The hospital lobby had a gloomy atmosphere, making Souda feel uneasy, and even more when Tanaka rambled about it being inhabited by spirits, even if he _definitely_ didn't believe any of his nonsense. Eventually, Tanaka noticed Souda's reaction to the place, and he changed his speech to how lucky the latter was to be next to him, because that made him immune to any supernatural dangers. Souda's attitude changed a bit, looking more annoyed than scared, and Tanaka smirked with maybe a bit of pride.

When they were done visiting the island and parted ways, Souda decided he might not completely hate Tanaka's company as much as he said he did. Not that he would ever admit that out loud, especially not in front of the other.

______________________

Komaeda had managed to ask Hinata to visit the new island with him. It was really interesting to see the other investigate, even if in that case it was only buildings, and he really liked his company. Unlike the rest of his classmates, who often looked like they wanted to punch him every time he spoke, the brunette seemed to tolerate him and he was grateful for that.

The third island was quite different from the other two ; it didn't feel like it belonged in a resort. They visited the different places : the hospital, the motel, the cinema... And Komaeda couldn't help but wonder if a murder would occur in any of those places. _If it does,_ he thought, _I can't wait to see what it will bring to the Ultimates ! Or maybe I won't be around to see it !_

His thoughts were interrupted by Hinata.

“What do you think of the people who put us here ?” he asked. The sudden question made Komaeda quite surprised.

“Why the sudden interest in them ?”

“Well, they trapped us here, so they must be bad people. But it's also thanks to these weird scars that Monokuma's motive was useless, he said so himself... So now I don't know what to think.”

“What an interesting deduction ! Well, I suppose we might learn more about them later on ? I don't know why you would ask for my opinion though !”

“Don't act like that, you always put yourself down, but you're really intelligent and perceptive.” Komaeda was surprised by the compliments and wasn't sure how to respond for a moment.

“Well, uh... For now, I don't think any of us can tell for sure. Well, except the traitor of course ! By the way, you might want to keep those thoughts to yourself. They make you very suspicious !”

“What do you mean ?” Hinata asked, confused and maybe a bit hurt by the sudden accusation.

“Well, asking me what I think of them out of nowhere is quite unusual, don't you think ? Plus, it almost sounds like you're trying to convince me that they're good people. Not that I know enough about them to prove the contrary, of course. But if I didn't know better, I would say you are the traitor !” he answered cheerfully. He wasn't even sure that Hinata wasn't the traitor, but it didn't seem very likely either.

“D-don't say things like that !” he pouted.

“I'm sorry ! I just wanted to warn you. After all, everyone is so on the edge that they'd jump at every opportunity to call you a traitor !”

“I guess you're right...” Hinata admitted, which ended the conversation. He seemed lost in his thoughts, possibly still thinking about what they just talked about.

“Well, I think we've visited everything there was to visit around here... I suppose I should leave you now !” Komaeda said. Of course, he wouldn't mind spending more time with Hinata, but he didn't want to burden him more than he already had.

“Oh, well, we can still hang out together if you want.” he answered, finally snapping out of his thoughts.

“You want to spend more time with me ? I really am lucky ! What should I do...? I might start liking you even more...” he started regretting his words as Hinata became flustered, but continued anyway. “To tell you the truth, I'm really happy, Hinata-kun. With everything you've learned about me, you're still talking to me like this.”

“I'm just a coward. I'm scared to leave someone like you alone when I don't understand you at all.”

“Personally, I think it shows great courage to try to understand something you don't understand. You are definitely someone who embodies hope.” Komaeda stated, which made Hinata look at him for a moment, with a gentle look that might have hid a small amount of curiosity. Seeing Hinata gazing at him this way made Komaeda pause, admiring him. They were quite close, letting him marvel at his features ; his green eyes looking softly at him, his spiky chestnut hair, the imperfect yet familiar shape of his face, all of this only making Komaeda want to get yet closer to-

“Well, it's not like I really hate spending time with you anyway.” Hinata admitted, interrupting his thoughts. He answered by smiling shyly, not daring to show how happy it had actually made him. They continued chatting after that.

“Well, anyway, who cares about me ? Let's talk about you.” Hinata said. Komaeda didn't really mind, he would talk about whatever the other wanted. He figured that if he wanted to talk about himself, he should probably explain a bit more about his luck, since it was what structured his life.

“Before that, can I ask you something ? What do you think good luck is ?”

“Are you trying to say... Good luck is an absolute power ?”

“Precisely ! For me, that's exactly what good luck is !”

Since the other wanted to hear him talk about himself, he did. He explained how his parents died, or when he got kidnapped, both events related to his luck. It seemed to make Hinata really confused, unable to process everything and not saying anything.

“And right before I entered Hope's Peak Academy...” he started, but then paused. He had already said a lot to Hinata, and he would probably be bored with all those pointless information about him. He might tell him, eventually, but for now he wasn't sure if he was ready to do so. He wasn't ready for the possibility of Hinata forgiving him yet. Because that would mean he would have to face those feelings he had for him ; the love towards the other that had grown.

“No, I shouldn't tell this story.” he simply stated with a small smile. “It's impertinent of me to burden you with all this because of my pointless situation.” _But who knows, tomorrow's a new day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> School started for me some time ago, so I have less time to write but I definitely intend on finishing this ! I might take some time to write another chapter, because it will probably include some majors events for the rest of the story and I'm still not sure how I want it to go ? Like, I have some ideas and I want to be sure before I choose one haha  
> Anyway, this included Komaeda's 4th free time event but as always I only wrote the most important parts  
> As you can see there was some soudam in this chapter, but I'm not sure if I should tag it yet because for now it's more friendship than anything else so  
> Thank you guys so much for you comments and kudos, all of them make me very happy and I'm glad that you like this <3


	7. Sickness, lies and nightmares

 “A party at Titty Typhoon at 9:00 p.m. ?” Hinata read on the invitation Ibuki just gave him.

Not long after Ibuki left his cottage, Hinata headed to the location. There was no particular reason to have a party, and it made him a bit uneasy considering what had happened at the last one, but since his classmate had probably put a lot of effort into organizing it, he decided it would be rude not to show up. Especially since everyone else was likely to be there as well. 

When he arrived in front of the Titty Typhoon, Komaeda and Tanaka were the only one outside. Komaeda refused to enter before everyone else already had, claiming it would be rude, and Tanaka was... well, he was being Tanaka. 

He opened the door and was greeted by almost all of his classmates. It only took a few minutes for everyone else to come in ; well, almost everyone else, since Owari was missing. 

Suddenly, the stage lit up brightly, and Ibuki appeared on it. 

“Heeeeey y'all ! It's Ibuki Miodaaaaa ! Thanks for coming today !” she exclaimed, her voice louder because of the microphone, and holding a guitar. She really seemed in her element ; and she was also determined to make everyone have a good time.

Well, when she started singing, there was probably no one having a good time, but nobody interrupted her either. Of course, everyone seemed horrified at the end of it, except for Saionji. But before Ibuki could start another song, Nidai caught everyone's attention.

 “Everyone ! Listen to me !” he shouted, nervousness showing on his face.

“Huh ? Why would we listen to you, I want to hear the next song !” Saionji complained.

“I'm afraid... that now's not the time.”

“Is there something wrong ?” Koizumi asked.

“I think that Owari's is danger. She hasn't shown up, and I'm starting to feel pain... What in the world is she doing ?” 

“Owari is dueling Monokuma !” said Monomi, surprising everyone.

“What did you say ?!”

“Owari is going to be in danger... Please... do something to save her ! She's at the beach on the first island !”

That was all it took for everyone to run away from the Titty Typhoon. Hinata felt anxious, and also slightly angry at Owari ; they had managed to avoid the last murder, why would she risk her life like that...?

When they arrived at the beach, they saw part of Monokuma and Owari's duel. But then, Monokuma started talking about violating a rule, and before they could register what was happening, Nidai saved Owari from death.

“Nidai... why did you save me ?”

Seeing Nidai hurt like that, and Owari looking at him with a shocked expression on her face, that was too much for Hinata. _How could this happen ? We were all having a great time... Why did that have to change again ?_

Monomi managed to convince Monokuma to save Nidai, since he wasn't the one to attack him, and Hinata felt quite conflicted by Monokuma's “help”. Would he really save Nidai ? Could they really put their friend's life in his hands ? Well, they didn't have any other choice anyway.

______________________

Hinata woke up with a headache. It was even worse than usual and it made him wonder if there was anything wrong, but it was nothing he couldn't manage. He thought about checking on Komaeda before going to the restaurant, but decided he could just wait for him at breakfast.

When he arrived to the hotel and found Owari crying, he was really confused since it was really unlike her to do so. He thought that maybe she was still in shock about what happened to Nidai, but it still felt wrong. He spotted Komaeda and decided to talk to him.

“Hey, are you okay ? Your headache is pretty bad today...”

“A headache ? What are you talking about ? I've never had a single headache in my life ! I feel completely fine today”, affirmed the other. Hinata was even more confused ; sure, the other always did have a strange behavior that could most of the time be hard to comprehend, but this was even stranger than usual. With Owari's weird behavior, the day had started very oddly and he briefly wondered if he was still asleep. If not, there was definitely something wrong.

“Why are you lying ? We share our pain, I know that you're not fine so it's useless to try to hide it...” 

“I always speak the truth ! By the way, be careful, Hinata-kun ! That's probably not the real Kuzuryuu !” 

He continued babbling about Byakuya being alive and the traitor, no matter how confused it made Hinata. Then, it was Ibuki's turn to act strangely, which consolidated Hinata's idea that this was all a dream.

“I-Ibuki-san... she has an extremely high fever. That's... probably the cause... Please try touching her forehead, you'll see what I mean !” said Tsumiki. 

Indeed, Ibuki had an abnormally high fever. Hinata put his hand on Komaeda and Owari's foreheads, and they had a fever as well. 

“My goodness ! That's obviously bad !” said Monokuma, snickering. _Of course he would have something to do with this,_ Hinata thought. 

After everyone else had arrived in the restaurant with confused expression on their faces, Monokuma started explaining.

“This is the new motive I've given you ! This is the Despair Disease ! It's a reaaaally annoying disease where you get a high fever, along with various symptoms that are full of despair ! Those symptoms are different based on the person... For instance, Komaeda has the Liar Disease, Owari has the Coward Disease, Ibuki has the Gullible Disease, I guess...?”

 _That explains a lot._ Those symptoms were the opposite of their normal personalities, except for Komaeda who had already lied to them before, and it made him wonder if Monokuma had done it on purpose. The latter started talking about the disease being contagious, and his classmates were worried that they might catch it too.

“I feel so great today !” said Komaeda. “This Despair Disease is awesome ! Despair ! Despair ! Despair ! Despair !”

“Ko-Komaeda, calm down...” Hinata started, starting to feel really worried about the other.

“It's amazing ! You should all get it too ! We're all done for ! There's no such thing as hope ! We all have to die from the Despair Disease... That's... the... o...nly... way...” the last words he spoke were barely a whisper, and he was grabbing his hair so strongly that it seemed painful. He laughed the same way he had during the first trial, in a way that made Hinata's stomach twist, and then he fainted, falling to the ground with a loud _thump_. As soon as Komaeda was unconscious, the headache was gone, and Hinata rushed to his side. 

“Komaeda ! Wake up !” 

“T-This is bad ! Komaeda-san is foaming at the mouth !” Tsumiki exclaimed, panicked. “Let's hurry him over to the hospital !” 

“... Got it ! I'll help out !” said Hinata almost immediately, in a determined voice. 

And just like that, the class found themselves at the hospital. Tsumiki was kind enough to change the sick people into hospital gowns.

“We should quarantine them so the disease doesn't spread !” Saionji proposed.

“If we do, who's going to take care of them ?” asked Kuzuryuu. 

“Tsumiki will stay with them. She's been touching them all over. Ugh, I hope it doesn't spread through these weird bonds, if I get the disease because of that pig, I'm going to kill her !” said Saionji with an expression of disgust on her face. _Sure, cause that's the most appropriate time to make that joke..._ Hinata almost replied. 

“I don't think it does... I mean, if it did, it would probably have until the beginning, right ? But Koizumi-san and Hinata-kun seem to be fine...” said Nanami. 

“Yeah, I'm fine, except for a headache, although it has stopped ever since Komaeda was unconscious. Anyway, we should figure out who else is going to stay here, we can't leave Tsumiki alone after all...”

“Why don't you stay here too, big bro Hinata ?” 

“... What ?” 

“Now that I think about it, you touched them all too. Remember ? You took their temperatures. So good luck ! Call us if there's any trouble !” said Saionji cheerfully, happy of her decision.

After a few minutes debating about what they should do, they decided Hinata would stay at the hospital with Koizumi -even if Saionji didn't seem to agree with that-, saying in case the disease _did_ spread by the bonds, it would be best if she stayed there. Souda affirmed he would think of something so they could communicate, and everyone but Hinata and Koizumi stayed, leaving the hospital really quiet and empty.

______________________ 

Hinata didn't mind staying at the hospital that much ; after all, he was suffering too because of the disease and it made him really worried about Komaeda so he would rather stay close to check on him. At least, he wasn't alone ; Tsumiki and Koizumi were with him. 

“H-Hinata-san... Are you okay ? Because of his symptoms, Komaeda-san won't admit it, but he seems like he's in pain... So you must be too... Maybe you should be a patient..” Tsumiki shyly said.

“Don't worry about me. I only feel the pain, not the other symptoms so I don't need to be looked after. But if I feel this way, I can't even begin to understand what Komaeda must feel like, with all the others effect of the disease...” 

“Y-you're right ! I must focus on healing Komaeda-san, so both of you will be fine !” 

“Don't overwork yourself, though. If I can help, just tell me.”

“Well, if you want to, you could look after Komaeda-san while I take care of Owari-san and Ibuki-san, since you seemed worried about him...”

“I-I did ?” he answered, trying to hide his blush. He didn't think it he was being _that_ obvious, but he must have been wrong. 

“I'm sorry for assuming ! But I figured you would be worried about him, since he looks like he's the most affected by the disease...” 

“I guess you're right... Well, I'll visit him while you take care of the others, don't worry.” he answered and made his way to Komaeda's room.

He didn't look good ; if his appearance made him look naturally sick, this was even worse. His pale complexion looked even paler, almost completely white, his eyes were puffy and red like he had been crying, and he was sweating even though he was shaking under the blankets. When Hinata saw Komaeda in this state, it made him realize how fragile the other was ; how _human_ he was, even if the others sometimes didn't treat him like one. This thought made his heart ache, and he took a seat on a chair near the bed. 

“Hinata-kun...” he started in a hoarse voice. “Wh...What are you doing here ?”

“Tsumiki needs to look after Ibuki and Owari, and I was worried about you, so I thought I'd visit you. Is that okay ?” he asked. 

“Of course not... You know how much I hate your company, just leave already.” The harsh answer was surprising and hurt Hinata, but he remembered that Komaeda had the lying disease, so it seemed natural that he would say this kind of things. It was still hard to go against the other's words, and it didn't feel exactly right.

“I know that's not the truth, so I'll stay a bit more.” 

“Ah, what a shame... I have to bear seeing your ugly face even more...” said Komaeda before coughing weakly. His headache was even more painful, but it wasn't only a headache ; he was suffering from maybe every part of his body. Hinata tried to ignore it. At least, Komaeda felt half the pain he normally would have. 

“It's weird that this disease is affecting you more than anyone else...” 

“It is, I really can't explain why.” That peeked Hinata's curiosity.

“So there _is_ a reason... Could you tell me ?” he asked hopefully. But Komaeda didn't answer and simply looked away, which made Hinata sigh. “I figured.” After his words, the room fell to a peaceful silence for a moment, before Komaeda broke it. 

“Why do you even care about me ?” 

Hinata looked at the other, a bit taken aback by the sudden question. It couldn't be a lie since it was a question, so it meant that Komaeda was actually wondering that, which was quite sad. Maybe if he answered truthfully, the other would finally understand that he did matter to him, although he wasn't quite sure he would remember anything from the disease. _Well, at least it's an opportunity to be honest without worrying about what he'll think afterwards._ He took his classmate's fragile hands in his own and hold them tight. 

“I'm not even sure myself. I can't say I fully understand you, or the way you think. In fact, I don't know if I'll ever be completely able to do so. You did bad things, I won't say otherwise, but... I want to get to know you. I want to know why you act this way, and why you think the way you do.” he paused. “Or maybe I'm just looking for excuses to forgive you and I just like spending time with you. Either way, when I talked to you yesterday, I felt like you were starting to open up to me, and... it made me really happy. I don't know if I'm making any sense ; I'm not even sure of what I'm feeling and I won't stop contradicting myself every time I try to figure it out. What I do know is that there are too many things that I'm feeling at the moment, and I'm really confused. I'm sorry I can't give you a proper answer, but if it makes you feel any better, just remember that I care about you, even if I can't explain why. I think... I think maybe I might like you more than I should.” 

He hadn't realize he had spoken that long until he glanced at Komaeda. He had managed to surprise the other a few times in the past -and it was sad to see that the only way he was able to surprise him was by caring about him-, but never as much as this moment. Komaeda looked at him with wide eyes, his mouth open in shock or amazement -he wasn't sure. His cheeks were faintly pink and he didn't take his gaze away from Hinata's, perhaps because he was afraid the other would disappear by doing so. His eyes looked watery, and at first Hinata thought it was because he wasn't even blinking ; but he was proved otherwise when tears began running down his pink cheeks. 

“Ha... You sound really stupid, Hinata-kun. You should stop saying such things, you're just embarrassing yourself. That means nothing to me.” 

It seemed his own words brought more tears, and Hinata immediately regretted what he said. He hadn't meant to say every single thought that was on his mind, but it seemed the idea of telling Komaeda everything he was feeling without him remembering made him go too far. It _was_ stupid of him to do that ; he didn't even know for sure that the other wouldn't remember it. His cheeks turned scarlet, and he didn't know what to do, but he couldn't leave Komaeda crying like that. He squeezed his hands reassuringly. 

“I hope you'll get better soon, so we can talk about all this for real, okay ?” said Hinata. The other boy stopped crying and he thought he saw a really small nod. Then, it was silent again, and the brunette couldn't take it anymore. He quickly got up, letting go of Komaeda's hands. 

“W-Well, I guess I should probably be going ! Bye Komaeda, get well soon !” he awkwardly blurted before rushing out of the room. It was the end of the day ; he decided he should go back to his cottage, when he ran into Tsumiki.

“Ah ! Hinata ! Are you okay ? You look really red... Oh no ! You must have gotten the despair disease too !”

“No- I'm fine, don't worry about it. I'm not sick at all.” 

“W-would you mind if I checked your temperature ? Just to be safe !” he nodded, and she put her hand on his forehead. “Oh, you really don't have a fever... Well, I'm glad !” 

“I was just going back to my cottage, or did you need any more help here ?” 

“No, not at all ! Thank you for helping !” 

“It wasn't much, really, you're doing most of the work...” he admitted. 

He quickly bid her goodbye and almost ran back to his cottage, trying to focus on everything but the conversation he just had with Komaeda. He silently prayed that the latter wouldn't remember any of it ; it was far too embarrassing. ' _I might like you more than I should ?' Really, Hinata ? How embarrassing can you get ? What if he remembers ?_ But then, he couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't too bad if he did remember it... After all, simply hearing Hinata say what he was feeling made him cry... _Was it because of the disease ? Did I... hurt him ? Or were those tears of joy ?_ He couldn't tell. He couldn't even tell for sure if Komaeda had been happy to see him.

Then, a single thought crossed his mind, clearing everything in his head. 

_The headache's gone..._

______________________

When Tsumiki said that Komaeda was in danger of dying, Hinata felt like he could collapse on the spot. Ever since the trial, he had always seemed so... untouchable. It was quite ironic, really, since he was always talking about how he wouldn't mind if someone killed him, but in Hinata's head, Komaeda seemed like the last person who would ever die. It seemed too surreal. Maybe he was just afraid of losing him, or maybe it was because he was bonded to him ; either way, he never thought that Komaeda could ever be in such danger. He couldn't believe it. 

But the pain that ran through his body told him otherwise ; he stumbled towards a chair and sat down. It was so intense, he couldn't think properly, and he thought he might start feelings some of the symptoms too.

“Hinata-san ! What's wrong ?” said Tsumiki, suddenly panicked at Hinata's reaction.

“It... It hurts...”

“We need to get him in one of the hospital's room ! We shouldn't have focused on Komaeda, Akane-chan and Ibuki-chan only. After all, if Komaeda is that sick, surely Hinata must have been suffering way more than he let on... I think we should probably take care of him too.” said Koizumi.

“No !” interjected Hinata. “I... might not be feeling good, but I'm not the priority. I'm not in any danger since I'm not sick, I only feel the pain. Komaeda, he... he might even die. Please, don't worry about me, I'll just lay down upstairs or something, but take care of him.” he managed to blabber, although all strength was leaving his body. Tsumiki and Koizumi looked at each other hesitantly, obviously not fond of leaving Hinata when he was suffering so much. But Hinata looked at them with the most determined look he could manage, and Koizumi sighed. 

“Fine. Mikan-chan, take care of Komaeda as much as you can -try to keep him alive. Hinata, I'll help you get to the second floor.”

“Got it ! Don't worry, Hinata-san, I'll won't let Komaeda-san die !” 

“Thanks...” he answered, and began walking upstairs with Koizumi supporting him. They walked in silence for a moment, until Koizumi said shyly :

“You... You sure care a lot about Komaeda, don't you ?” 

“Yeah, I guess... I just don't want anyone else to die...” 

“Is that really it, though ?” she asked, looking at him with seriousness. He knew that wasn't it ; he cared about Komaeda probably more than anyone else on the island, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

They arrived in the room, and Hinata lay on the bed hurriedly, worried that his shaking legs wouldn't be able to keep him standing much longer. 

“Try to rest, okay ?” 

“Thanks, Koizumi... Tell me if there's anything wrong....” he said, before his exhaustion made him close his eyes almost immediately and drift off to sleep.

______________________

That night, Hinata had a dream. Well, it was probably what you'd rather call a nightmare. Or maybe it was neither ; simply a memory.

There was a classroom. He remembered it, but he wasn't sure where it was. There are voices around him, and he can hear one of them more clearly than the others.

“Did you hear ? He's actually going to Hope's Peak Academy ! Can you believe it ?”

“Is he really that much of a genius though ?”

It's just noise. It's unimportant. He stared vacantly out the window, trying to block out and ignore the voices, but they keep coming back ; he didn't want to hear them. He wanted to block his ears, to go somewhere he belonged, because it didn't seem like he belonged anywhere at the moment. Not in this classroom, not in this school, and not in his home. He wanted to run away. 

“He's just a normal guy, like everyone else.” 

_What is this ? Who is speaking ? Why can't I remember ? … Who am I ?_

______________________

“Komaeda's condition has improved !” 

He had just woken up from his nightmare with Tsumiki on top of him, and he felt a huge relief. He didn't even care about what he just dreamed of, he had something else -or rather someone else- to worry about at the moment. 

“R-Really ?” he said eagerly, not even bothering to mask his relief. He was so glad that Komaeda was fine, that he didn't know how badly he would have reacted if the other had died. That thought scared him a little, but he shook it off and focused on the matter ; Komaeda was alive. Not cured, but alive, and that was enough for the moment. “Thank you so much Tsumiki for taking care of him. It must have been hard for you... You should really rest now. I'm so grateful”, Hinata said, before realizing that it sounded as if Tsumiki had saved his own life. He didn't really care about that as the moment, though.

“I'm glad I could be helpful ! I suppose I will go rest now... You probably want to visit him anyway !”

“Yeah, I guess I do... But, just before you leave, can I ask you something ?” 

“Of course ! What is it ?” said Tsumiki. 

“Well... It's obvious that Komaeda was affected by the disease way more than the others, right ? I know it must be hard for you to try to figure out a virus you've never seen before, but... Do you think there's any reason for that ?” he asked tentatively. When he talked to the boy, it had seemed as if there _was_ a reason, and that he was aware of it, but he wouldn't tell him. Tsumiki seemed to be thinking for a moment before answering him. 

“I've never seen this disease before, so I can't be completely sure, but... I think, generally speaking, a patient who's already weakened will be more affected by a sickness, you know ? Maybe Komaeda-san has some kind of problem, and the despair disease only made it worse... At least, that's the only reason I can think of right now. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful !” 

“Don't worry about it, you already helped a lot. I'll go see him now, you should rest.” 

He went to the hospital, and then to Komaeda's room. He cautiously opened the door, and was greeted to a peaceful room. Komaeda was laying on his bed, looking at the window. He seemed a little better than the day before, but it was still obvious that he was sick. Hinata was still happy to see him alive, of course. 

“Komaeda ! How are you feeling ?” 

“I'm feeling great ! Better than ever !” 

 _That's a lie, of course,_ he thought, feeling a not-so-small headache. 

“Of course. Well, I'm glad that you're not in a critical condition anymore, at least.” 

“You don't have to visit me, you know. I'd be happier if you didn't, actually. I don't care about being lonely !” said Komaeda. 

“I know you can't help it, but I really wish you'd stop saying things like that.” said Hinata. After he spoke, the room stayed silent for a moment, Komaeda looking lost in thoughts, and Hinata not really knowing what to stay, but not willing to leave the room either. While he was in this condition, visiting Komaeda made him more relaxed, knowing that he wasn't in any danger ; not when he was in the same room. Surprisingly, it was Komaeda who broke the silence. 

“Hinata-kun, did you have a nightmare last night?” he asked. Those words made his stomach knot, as he suddenly remembered. For some reason, the nightmare he had made him uneasy, and he didn't really want to talk about it. 

“Y-yeah, I did. Why are you asking me that, though? Did you have a nightmare too?” 

“Of course not. I never have nightmares.” Right. Somehow, he had pictured Komaeda as the kind of person who would get nightmares often, with all the headaches he had. 

“So... Why did you ask me that ?” he repeated. 

“No reason.” answered Komaeda, which made Hinata sigh. He sat on the same chair he sat on the day before, and looked at the boy with sympathetic eyes. 

“I mean it when I say I'm glad you're safe, you know. You really frightened me. Of course, I don't want any of our friends to die, but...” he stopped himself before giving another embarrassing speech, and continued on a different subject. “Anyway, there's still so many things I don't understand about you, so I hope you'll be willing to talk to me when you're cured. Well, it's kind of stupid of me to say all those things when you might not remember them... But I guess I can just say it again. Get some rest, alright ?” he said, before getting up. But when he was about to leave the room, he felt a hand grab his wrist. Surprised, he turned around and he meet Komaeda's eyes, which seemed full of... fear ? “Komaeda ? What's wrong ?” 

“Nothing's wrong. I'm not scared, not of anyone here.” his tone was wavering and it filled Hinata with concern and anxiousness. Was he scared of someone ? 

“D-did someone do something to you ? Are you in danger ?” 

“It's nothing, really. If I were scared of anyone here, it'd be you !” his laugh sounded more like a sob, and it was sad to here it, especially when he was trying to smile despite his obvious fear. 

“Please, talk to me, tell me a name, I can help...” 

Komaeda looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind and looked away. Hinata wanted to ask him more, but he supposed it wouldn't do any good since Komaeda didn't seem willing to talk. _I doubt anyone would try to kill him anyway, since we share pain and I'm often close to the hospital..._  

He left the room, and noted that it was almost time for Monokuma's morning announcement. He decided to go in the lobby, and noticed that the light on the monitor was blinking, which was strange since it wasn't time for the chat they had arranged with the others. _Maybe it's an emergency...! I don't have time to wait for Tsumiki or Koizumi !_  

He pushed the button, and on the monitor displayed a human figure walking towards a stepladder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update ! I'm sooo sorry for the time it took me to write this, but I didn't have internet for two weeks so I couldn't look at videos of the gameplay for reference, plus now I'm back to school but well at least this chapter's longer than the others ! Hope you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for your kudos and comments <3 <3 they make me so happy ! see you for the next chapter, which will hopefully be there sooner !


	8. Memories

Komaeda woke up in what he could probably describe as the most confused state he had ever been in. His thoughts were a mess, especially his memory ; he wasn't sure what was the last thing he could recall. To add to his confusion, Monokuma was right next to him.

“What a beautiful morning, don't you think so ?” said the bear in his usual teasing voice.

“What happened ?”

“It would seem you were reaaally sick, you were suffering from the Despair Disease. While you were sick, someone died at the Titty Typhoon ! So now you're free to go investigate or do whatever you want I guess. Oh, and if you barely remember anything that happened during the last few days, that's normal ! See ya' !”

For some reason, he was feeling anxious and he was still quite dizzy, so he tried to calm down and gather the pieces of his memory. He took deep breaths and ignored the rate at which his heart was beating, and how his whole body was shaking.

 

_Despair._

 

That was the first word he could remember, and it led to another train of thoughts. _Tsumiki._ He remembered seeing his clumsy but innocent classmate, the Ultimate Nurse, slowly changing into an embodiment of despair before his own eyes. Why didn't he do anything ? Why was he so powerless ?

 

_Sickness._

 

That's right. He remembered being sick. Of course, with his luck, it wasn't like he never had any medical issues ; quite the opposite, actually. But this... This was something else. The constant feeling of being pulled towards despair, having to witness an Ultimate succumb to this fate, he had never felt more vulnerable and useless. The breaths he took were shaky and it sounded as if he was sobbing. How did he even manage to survive ? There was something else that he had been feeling while he was sick.

 

_Pain._

 

He had had a headache, and he had felt pain piercing through every part of his body. He had been feeling hot, cold, and he had barely been able to breathe. He remembered being on the verge of dying, and then crawling back to life. For yet another time in his pathetic life, it seemed fate had other plans for him, since he survived again. What was it that had made him want to survive so much ? There was something more about this pain. He felt like he forgot something... _What did I forget... No. Who did I forget ?_

 

_Hinata._

 

The endless pit of despair. The sight of a hopeless future. Not knowing whether to trust his own mind. Not being able to think rationally, to differentiate right from wrong. Horrible thoughts invading his head and never getting out. Between all this darkness, he remembered a ray of light. A small voice calling out to him. If everything else seemed blurry, the few memories he had of Hinata were clear to him. And amongst the few things he could recall about Tsumiki's descent to despair, the image of Hinata sitting next to him, talking to him, smiling and even blushing at him, came to his mind. He looked like an angel. He was probably what had kept him alive, the _hope_ that kept him going and clinging to life.

_There's still so many things I don't understand about you, so I hope you'll be willing to talk to me when you're cured._ But why would he want that ? Why, among all the other things he could remember from when he was sick, did the ones with Hinata seem to be the most real ? He couldn't seem to remember everything Hinata had said to him, but the pieces he did remember were as clear as day. Yet, he couldn't believe it had happened. Was his mind just playing with him again to destroy him better afterwards ?

He shook his head as if it would make his thoughts disappear, and reminded himself that a murder had occurred. It angered him that the murderer was probably Tsumiki, who had fallen to despair without him being able to do anything about it, but he would still have to investigate to make sure of it. He got out of the room, and as he walked towards the Titty Typhoon, memories of what Hinata had said kept popping up.

 

_I want to get to know you._

_Believe me, you really don't,_ he answered in his head as he left the hospital, the sun making him narrow his eyes.

 

_I want to know why you act this way, and why you think the way you do._

_If you had any idea of what was going on inside my head, you would run away without looking back._ He sped up his pace, looking around to see if anyone else was outside.

 

_When I talked to you yesterday... it made me really happy._

_I don't see how talking to me could make anyone feel any sort of happiness, Hinata-kun._ He was arriving near the Titty Typhoon, and tried to compose himself before seeing the rest of his classmates again. He would especially have to be careful around Tsumiki ; if he gave her away, he would steal the opportunity for everyone to shine during the class trial. Well, if she were the culprit, he wasn't going to let her live anyway. Carefully, he opened the door, the sound coming out of the room contrasting with the silence of the outside. He walked in, and immediately as he met Hinata's eyes, a memory resurfaced, even clearer than the others, and warming his heart.

 

_I think... I think maybe I might like you more than I should._

This time, he had nothing to answer, still not breaking the eye contact with Hinata. He simply stood there, frozen by the shock of what he just remembered. Seeing him again, it made him look even more surreal. The latest memory he had of him was an angelic picture of how he saved him from despair, and seeing him in front of him again made him unable to move. Thankfully, Hinata seemed more capable than him, and started walking to him, probably not seeing the mess of emotions that was going on inside Komaeda's head.

“Hey, are you alright ?” he simply asked.

“Alright ? What do you mean ?”

“Well, I'm talking about the Despair Disease of course ! I was really surprised when I saw Owari and Ibuki acting like their normal selves, but then Monokuma explained that he just... ended it, somehow. You're the last one to arrive, by the way, did something happen ?”

“No, nothing at all. I was just confused after I woke up. My memory is really blurry...”

“D-do you remember what happened when you were sick ?” asked Hinata, cheeks flushed a little. He seemed a bit embarrassed, and it was quite entertaining.

“Mmh, I'm not sure... I remember some things, but...” he cut himself before saying more, deciding it would be funnier to leave Hinata without a proper answer. “Anyway, Monokuma said someone was killed, so we should probably be investigating, don't you think ?”

“Yes, you're right,” he said, looking disappointed and unsatisfied at his lack of answer, but then regaining a serious and dark expression. Komaeda had been so focused on Hinata that he didn't even look at who was killed. He turned his head, and saw the corpse of Saionji Hiyoko lying on the ground.

_What a shame,_ he thought. _She didn't even die in the sake of hope, if Tsumiki did kill her._

“What happened ?” he asked. Hinata seemed to hesitate for a moment, before answering him.

“Well, after I visited you this morning, the monitor that we used to communicate with the others was displaying a light before the time we had arranged. I clicked on it and I saw someone in a hospital gown walking towards a stepladder, with a rope hanging from the ceiling... I recognized the Titty Typhoon so I rushed there to stop them, but...” he paused, a dark expression clouding his face. “I... I was too late...”

Komaeda didn't like seeing an Ultimate, especially Hinata, like this. From what he gathered, he was starting to have some ideas of what had happened, but nothing he was sure of yet. He put his hand on the other's shoulder, causing him to look up at him in slight surprise.

“Don't worry, Hinata-kun. I'm sure you'll find the mystery that lies behind this case.” _And if you don't, I'll help you find it._

“You say that, but.. Aren't you just going to stand with the killer again ?” said Hinata, not seeming like he had cheered up at all. Komaeda simply smiled.

“As always, I'll be on the side of hope.” _In this case, probably your side,_ he thought. Hinata didn't really seem satisfied from his answer at all, but he still smiled weakly at him. Komaeda had his mind on the disease, and the brief memories he had of it, but he couldn't be distracted right now. He had a case to solve ; even if the identity of the killer seemed obvious, he still needed to find out everything about this case, to be sure he didn't misunderstand it.

______________________

“Tsumiki... It's you, isn't it ?” Hinata said, trying not to let his voice waver.

“E-Excuse me... What are you saying ?” she said.

“Aren't you the culprit who killed Saionji ?” he asked, even if everything was getting clearer and clearer in his head. “By using Saionji's video and using an “alibi”, the only person who can benefit from that is... You and I. Moreover, you had a possibility none of us had, that is, you could lure Saionji out of her room.”

“W-what do you mean ?”

“You and Saionji were connected. By inflicting a great amount of pain to yourself, she would have come out of the room to make you stop, and you would have the opportunity to kill her. Then, using the video, you had an alibi...”

“I don't understand ! How could you say those kinds of things to me ? What have I ever done to you, Hinata-san ?” she whined.

“Oi, don't you think that's a bit too far ? She doesn't look like she can kill a bug...” said Owari.

“Ibuki doesn't think Mikan-chan would have done that either... She took care of Ibuki while she was sick, after all !” Ibuki added.

Hinata sighed. He knew he was right about Tsumiki. Everything added up, now, he just had to explain it to his classmates so they could believe him. At least, it seemed that Komaeda was taking his side, for some reason.

When she had almost no rebuttals left, Tsumiki's behavior started to change drastically. It didn't take long for everyone to notice that she was no longer the Tsumiki they knew, no matter how much it hurt to accept it. And once again, they were forced to doubt one of their classmates and send them to their punishment.

Soon after, the trial was over. Tsumiki had admitted her crimes, and the fact that she had regained her memory, before being executed. As always, it was painful to watch. When they had successfully stopped a murder from happening, this whole situation had felt a little further away, but the painful reality came back after this case.

Hinata was walking back to his cottage in silence. He didn't dare talk to anyone, not even Koizumi who seemed deeply affected. He hoped she would be fine ; she was quite close to Saionji after all, and the murders seemed to affect her a lot, maybe a bit more than some of them. The mystery had been solved, but somehow he had more questions than before the trial. One of them stood out more than the others. _Why did she start acting like that after regaining her memories ?_ His head was filled with interrogations about this trial, and his heart was filled with grief. He already missed the classmates he had lost ; the memory of Saionji and the Tsumiki he once knew haunted him. A voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Hinata-kun !”

_Komaeda._ His mind was so focused on everything that happened that he hadn't thought about the boy -which, these past few days, seemed quite unusual.

“Hey, Komaeda.” he simply said, not in the best mood for talking.

“Ah, I'm sorry, this might not be the best time to talk to you, but I had something I had to ask you, that came back to my mind during the trial. It's about when I was sick.”

“Oh ! Uh, do you remember anything ?”

“There is something that disturbs me. Some of my memories are quite clear, but there is something that just seems odd...”

“What is it ?” he asked, feeling anxious about what Komaeda was going to say, all the awkward sentences he had said to him coming back to his mind and making him cringe.

“Hinata-kun... did you have a nightmare last night ?” asked Komaeda in a smooth and innocent voice. Hinata froze. That wasn't what he had expected him to say. “I'm sorry, was that too weird ?”

“N-No. It's just... You asked me the same thing this morning. Can I ask why ?”

“It's... kind of weird to explain, but I'll try my best... You see, the things I remember are quite vague, but I can mostly tell whether they happened or not. But there's this weird thing I remember... I'm not sure what it is... a dream, a nightmare, or a memory maybe... Well, whatever this is, it's about you. And, it's not just a dream _about_ you, it just feels like it's your dream, you know ? Like you're having a dream and I'm just a spectator of what your mind creates.”

“What's this... dream about ?”

“I don't remember a lot, but... You were sitting in a classroom, but you didn't feel like you belonged there. There were people talking about you, and they made you want to run away far from this place. That's about all I can say, sorry...” Hinata didn't answer for a moment, thoughtful. That... that sounded a lot like the dream he had the night before, and it crept him out.

“I had a dream like that yesterday, yeah. But, I can't explain why you saw it too... That's so weird...”

“Don't you think it could be the scars ? They already make us share pain, and apparently they can also make people hear each others thoughts, so I wouldn't be surprised that it made us have the same dream.”

“Oh... When you put it like that, it does make sense.” _Does this mean our bond grew even stronger ?_ he thought, but decided he should keep it to himself.

“It really was a strange dream, wasn't it ? I wonder if it has anything to do with your talent.” said Komaeda, looking quite happy that thought. Hinata stayed silent, and an expression of worry appeared on Komaeda's face. Hinata noticed it and tried to smile reassuringly.

“Sorry, it's just that this dream, whatever it was, made me really uneasy. Something about the atmosphere, I don't know... I wish I could just forget it.”

“Of course, I see ! Then I'll stop talking about it, I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Thanks.”

The conversation ended, and Hinata went to his cottage. He had a headache again, it seemed Komaeda would get a lot of those before going to sleep. He tried not to think about Saionji and Tsumiki too much, but he couldn't help it. He looked instinctively at the scar on his wrist, and thought about how they were supposed to protect them, to help them understand each other, but this time they only helped someone commit murder. He briefly wondered if Komaeda would ever do something like that. _Of course not. I need to trust him if I want him to do the same. But... How can I do that after all he's done ?_

He sighed. It seemed he couldn't understand himself when it came to Komaeda. One minute he would tell him everything on his mind and how much he wanted to understand him, and the other he would doubt him again. _I hate myself for doubting him, but I hate myself even more for not doing so._

He collapsed on his bed, and landed face first on his pillow, trying to ignore the pain of the headache. He closed his eyes, and tried yet again to forget about everything that happened, even for only a moment, before falling asleep.

______________________

“How about you go to the beach on the first island ? There'll be someone waiting there.” Monokuma said, after the whole class had gathered at the restaurant.

“Could it be... Nidai ?” asked Owari, her voice full of hope. “It's Nidai, isn't it !? It's Nidai, right ? Nidai's safe, isn't he ?”

Everyone rushed to the beach, not willing to wait another second before being assured that their friend was okay. Owari wasn't waiting for anyone, running as fast as she could -which was really fast. When they finally arrived, no one was there, so they started calling his name. Suddenly, they heard a voice answering them.

“Gyahaha ! What's the matter ? Are you searching for I ?”

Hinata turned his head to the source of the voice, only to witness something utterly unbelievable. It _seemed_ like the Nidai they all knew, except for... well, except for the fact that he was a robot. Quite ironically, the one who seemed the least bothered by that fact was Nidai himself ; everyone else was completely shocked, and didn't know what to say.

“I-I'm sorry Nidai... I don't know how to apologize for this...” said Owari, guilt showing on her face.

“Do not worry ! Things like that happen in life !” Nidai answered, and Hinata had no idea how in the world could he be so unbothered by that. _I suppose he's glad to even be alive..._

“Do the bonds still work between the two of you, now that Nidai's a robot ?” asked Nanami. _Oh, right._ Hinata hadn't thought of that at all, but it was a really good question.

“Fortunately, I was able to cut the bond between those two ! You should be thankful, really. If anyone is tired of those weird things the Future Foundation did to you, you know what to do ; just become a robot ! Anyone interested here ?” no one said answered, simply looking at each other uncomfortably. Monokuma looked disappointed. “Hmpf, whatever, just keep those bonds, it's not like I care...” he said before leaving.

“Well, that's a good thing, right ? You were always complaining about how you weren't able to train with Nidai without feeling pain too, right Owari ?” Koizumi said, obviously trying to cheer the gymnast up. It didn't seem to be working, though.

“I know it might sound weird, but... I think I would have preferred to keep it.” she answered, and everyone fell silent, unsure of what to say. It was quite weird ; they had just got one of their friends back, and no one seemed happy at the moment. Well, Ibuki changed that really fast.

“You know, Ibuki thinks it's awesome ! You're an actual robot, is there anything cooler than that ? Probably not ! Ibuki's so jeaaaalous !”

Her behavior seemed to light up the mood, if only a little bit. Souda agreed with her, impressed by the technology used to make Nidai alive again. _I'm not sure if she does it on purpose, but she always knows how to make everyone happy,_ Hinata thought with a slight smile on his face.

After the reunion they just had with Nidai, Monomi arrived to tell them that she defeated another Monobeast, which meant that a new island was opened for them to visit. After losing two of their friends, they weren't really on board with visiting it, but Monokuma was able to convince the group by telling them they could find ship parts, information on the Future Foundation, and information about their time at Hope's Peak. Hinata couldn't help but wonder if they was anything about his talent, and it made him both nervous and excited.

He started walking towards the island, and was quite surprised by it. The island seemed like one big amusement park. Cheerful, colorful, loud ; he didn't have anything about amusement parks, but seeing one in their situation made it quite eerie. He started visiting the different places, talking to the classmates he would cross paths with.

“This is so cool ! Ibuki looooves amusement parks !” said Ibuki. She seemed especially excited ever since she saw the island.

“I just hope there won't be any attractions that are too extreme, I get motion sick easily...” Souda grumbled. He didn't get what he asked for when he was almost forced to go to the roller coaster so they could get the prize Monokuma mentioned. It was a file from the Future Foundation. They discovered that another group of student had been put in a similar situation as them, and that Togami was part of them.

“If only he was still alive, we could have asked him about this...” said Koizumi softly, looking at her shoes. It was still hard for almost everyone to talk about the classmates who had died.

After their ride, they walked towards the train that had Monokuma's face on it. It didn't seem safe at all, but if it could allow them to find more information like that Future Foundation file, they needed to try it.

_And maybe I'll finally find out my talent,_ he couldn't help thinking. A bit anxious, he sat in the train next to Nanami who smiled slightly at him. She didn't seem completely serene, and whether it was because of this train or simply because she was tired, he couldn't tell.

After everyone else had sat down, the small train began to depart at a slow pace. They heard Monokuma's voice announcing they were headed towards a Surprise House.

“Also, it's dangerous to stand up during the ride ! Well, you're not going to do that anyway.” that was the last thing they heard, before a white gas spread in the tunnel, making everyone lose consciousness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter !  
> I wasn't sure how to write the case, because I didn't want to spend too much time on it since it's the same as canon except Ibuki didn't die so... i hope i didn't mess up haha  
> As always, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone reading, commenting and leaving kudos on this fic, it really keeps me going ! <3


	9. A name

Hinata woke up to a room he didn't recognize. He was still disorientated, and looked around to see a place filled with pink, and strawberries on the walls. 

“What is this place ?” asked Nidai, which reminded Hinata that the rest of his classmates were here too. 

“Wh-where are we ?” Sonia asked. Around him came other surprised and alarmed cries as everyone started to wake up. Then, a voice he would have preferred not hearing chimed in. 

“Welcome to the Strawberry House !” Monokuma exclaimed. 

“I thought you said this was the Funhouse ?” Hinata said. 

“It is. The Strawberry House is just a part of it,” the bear answered. He then began to explain the structure of the 'Strawberry House' and the different places in it. “Well, the best way to understand this place is to visit it, of course !” he concluded. 

“To bring us in a place like this... Explain ! What are you planning to make us do this time ?” Tanaka asked. 

“Didn't I explain you ? This is the motive this time... An escape game ! I'll let you guys out when the killing begins !” Monokuma laughed before disappearing, leaving everyone in a panicked state. 

“I-Is he serious ? We can't get out of here unless the next killing happens ?” said Kuzuryuu.

“Ibuki thought this was supposed to be the Funhouse, but this isn't fun at all !” Ibuki complained. 

“This motive will be hard to overcome if we lose our cool...” Pekoyama stated. 

If everyone was surprised and confused when they first woke up, now they were even farther from being calm. 

“Everyone, please, calm down ! I'm sure Monokuma wants us to be lost like this, not knowing what to do. We must split in groups to search every corner of this place and find an exit if there is one !” ordered Sonia, making everyone a bit more composed. 

“You're right, that's the best thing to do. How should we split up, then ?” asked Koizumi. 

“Wouldn't it be the easiest thing to just split up by whoever we are connected to ?” said Owari. “Or were, in my case...”

“What a wonderful idea ! I'm looking forward to spending time with Nanami-san !” Sonia chirped. Nanami nodded in agreement and smiled at her.

“What ? No way ! Why can't we split up with whoever we want ? It's easy for you guys to say, but have you seen who Hinata and I are connected to ?” Souda interrupted, looking at Hinata for back up. 

“I understand that a simple mortal like you would be afraid of being near me, but do not worry ; I will not harm you.” 

“Of course, it's only natural that Hinata-kun wouldn't want to spend time with me ! I don't mind visiting this place alone if I'm bothering you...” said Komaeda, feeling targeted by Souda's words. 

“No, I don't mind.” Hinata answered, looking back at Souda with a smirk. 

“Then it's settled,” said Koizumi, shooting a glare at Souda who seemed reluctant but grumbled a few words of agreement.

And on her words, the class split up in six groups of two and started visiting the Strawberry house. Even if he said that to tease Souda, Hinata really didn't mind spending with Komaeda. 

“I'm sorry, it seems you're stuck with me again...” he apologized. 

“You don't have to apologize, really... Well, let's start looking around.” Hinata said. 

They were quickly done with the indoor park, which didn't have anything interesting in it except for some playground equipment, and they started walking towards the other rooms. Everything was covered in that moving strawberry pattern, and it made Hinata sick just by looking at it. After walking for a bit, they arrived in the lounge and saw Tanaka and Souda already visiting it. Souda didn't seem happy, probably because of the groups that were chosen, but he seemed less grumpy than a few minutes ago. 

“Hey, did you guys find anything interesting here ?” 

“Not really no, except that clock and that phone... Well, we're done here, so you should probably examine it for yourselves,” Souda said, before leaving the room along with Tanaka. 

“It seems he's having a hard time getting along with Tanaka, isn't he ?” asked Komaeda, amused. 

“That's true, but I think he's actually starting to like him a bit more,” Hinata answered with a slight smile. 

“You're really observant ! Well, why don't we start looking around the place ? Maybe we'll find something they didn't notice. And we might as well get accustomed with everything here, since it's possible we'll stay here for a while...”

“I guess you're right.” 

As Souda said, the most interesting things in the lounge were probably the phone, with a grape design on it that stood out from the strawberries, and the clock which would allow them to keep track of time -assuming Monokuma wouldn't mess with it. Hinata turned to Komaeda, who wasn't taking his eyes off something on the wall. 

“What are you looking at ?” he asked. 

“I was looking at this portrait. Apparently, it's the founder of Hope's Peak Academy. I was thinking how lucky we are that he existed, otherwise we wouldn't have had the chance to enter it ! But then, I was also wondering why would anyone put the picture of someone so important here... Isn't that weird ?”

“It is kind of weird...” he said as he walked next to Komaeda to see the picture he was talking about. “I didn't even notice it was there actually”, he said before squinting his eyes towards the plate below it, and reading out loud : “ _Hope's Peak Academy Founder.._.” he paused. “ _I...zu...ru...Ka.._.” then, suddenly, he stopped, unable to take his eyes of the plate.

 _Something's not right,_ he thought. His mind went blank, and he couldn't think clearly. Everything felt empty, and the only thing he could see was the name before him. There was one thing he knew : he was scared. He stared at the letters for so long that they didn't make sense. His breathing became irregular and he was shaking. 

 _Why do I remember this name ? Why do I feel like I've known it my whole life ? It feels so familiar, and yet it should be the first time I read it. Why do I feel like this name is so important ? And why am I so scared of it ?_  

Many questions passed through his head, until his own thoughts were incomprehensible. He felt alone, as if everything around him had disappeared, until he heard a faint voice calling his name, and a warm presence on his shoulder. Suddenly, he broke out of his state and turned his head to see Komaeda looking at him with worry on his face. 

“Hinata-kun ! Can you hear me ? Calm down, take deep breaths,” he said softly, not breaking the eye contact, but Hinata didn't answer. He tried to follow his advice, and as he reached for something to grip like he was afraid he would collapse on the spot, Komaeda took his hand in his own to calm him down. Hinata was still shaking, and Komaeda backed away a little to let him more space.

"You're going to be alright, okay ? Just focus on breathing."

After some time of Komaeda talking to him reassuringly, Hinata's breathing was more regular and he was able to talk again.

“I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me..." said Hinata. "I'm fine now, don't worry", he added, trying his best to smile. Komaeda didn't look convinced at all, and he seemed to hesitate before saying his next sentence. 

“Hinata-kun, you... You're crying...” he said barely loud enough to be heard. Hinata touched his cheeks and indeed, they were wet. He didn't even notice that he had been crying and was genuinely surprised. He wiped his tears away quickly, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, it was Komaeda who spoke next, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “It's going to be alright, just take your time. It probably had something to do with the name on the plate...” 

“I... I felt like I already knew it or something...” he paused. “Still, thank you for helping me. I don't know what happened to me... Gosh, this is embarrassing...” he added, flustered. He hadn't exactly expected to cry in front of someone here, even less unknowingly, but then he was also glad that Komaeda was here to support him -as weird as it might have sound.

“I'm sorry, I probably got carried away and invaded your personal space...”

“Don't be sorry, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. You really helped me, thank you”, Hinata reassured him with a smile that no longer felt forced.

 

* * *

 

 

Tanaka and Souda had been walking in silence for some time now, barely paying attention to the places they were supposed to explore. Tanaka noticed that Souda was abnormally quiet and seemed a bit tense. At first, he thought it would be best not to say anything, but then he changed his mind. 

“I sense that there is something wrong. May I ask what it is ?” 

“Nothing's wrong !” Souda snapped. “I'm just annoyed that I have to visit this place with you instead of Sonia-san, that's it.”

“Is that really it ?” Tanaka asked. Souda hesitated for a moment, but answered anyway, this time a bit calmer.

“Are you really asking me that ? Our situation was pretty bad already, and I didn't think it could be worse, but now this... ? How could I stay calm ?” he said. 

“I see... Well, it's natural that you're uncomfortable with being locked up in here, but do not worry. I don't think Monokuma wants this game to end by everyone starving to death.” 

“Or maybe he's counting on the fact that someone will die before that.” 

“That's a possibility,” he admitted. “But remember that we have managed to overcome one of his motives already. Plus, with the great Tanaka Gundham by your side, you don't have to worry about your safety.” 

“Yeah, well... You better keep that word...” Souda murmured. Surprised, Tanaka took a moment to answer, unsure if he had heard him right. 

“Of course... It's a promise,” he finally said, looking away from the other boy and unknowingly missing said boy's blush. These past few days, he had often found himself acting differently around Souda than around everyone else. He chose to simply ignore it and not think too much about it, but he also decided to spend more time with him. _I'm only making sure he doesn't get hurt,_ he had said to himself many times, no matter how fake it sounded.

They finished visiting the Strawberry House, not talking much more than before their conversation, but this time the silence surrounding them was quite different, not tense like before ; both Tanaka and Souda felt safe.

 _It's a promise,_ Tanaka repeated in his head. It wasn't something he had said lightly. Of course, Tanaka hardly said anything lightly for it often held some deep meaning that only he could understand, but this promise he had just made was really important to him. He had said that not only to reassure Souda, but also as a reminder to himself ; he couldn't let his classmates die.

 

* * *

 

 

“According to my internal clock, it's already past 10 p.m. !” shouted Nidai.

“Already ? I'm starting to feel sleepy after hearing that...” said Nanami. 

“Well, since we don't have food, it might be better to conserve our energy. Shall we decide our room assignments ?” Komaeda offered.

“Wait... According to the map, each house has five guestrooms, that means ten rooms in total...” Souda started.

“We could have deduced that ourselves, your point ?” Koizumi interrupted, annoyed. 

“Isn't it obvious ? There's twelve of us ! There's not enough rooms for everyone !” he exclaimed.

“Oh my... That's true ! Didn't Monokuma plan this ahead ?” Sonia asked. 

“Yeah, about that... You see, you weren't exactly _supposed_ to be that much at this moment...” Monokuma said after appearing from nowhere. 

“What is that supposed to mean ?” 

“Well, I guess you could say that because of the Future Foundation's little interference with this game, there's more of you than they should have been. You should have been nine right now. Of course, I'm not going to say who was supposed to die ; it's way funnier to let you guys in uncertainty !” he said with a smirk.

Everyone fell silent. Knowing that three of them should have been dead, Hinata couldn't help but wonder ; _was I one of them ?_ And that was probably the question passing through everyone else's mind. Since no one was talking, Monokuma decided to continue.

“So, about the guestrooms, since it's not _my_ fault that there isn't enough of them, you'll have to find a way to deal with that by yourselves !” he said, before leaving the room. The change of subject was welcomed, and finally the class was willing to speak again. 

“I guess someone will have to sleep on the ground,” Owari said. 

“I don't think it's right to make someone sleep on the ground. I mean, the deluxe rooms seem pretty big, so wouldn't it be okay for some people to share them ?” Nanami mused. 

“What ? You want teenagers to sleep in the same bed ? Ibuki didn't know that Chiaki-chan was so daring !” Ibuki said.

“If two boys and two girls share the same bed, it should be fine, right ? It's not like we have a choice anyway. It would be unfair to make someone sleep on the ground...” Koizumi stated. 

“Okay, well how are we going to decide who has to share a room ? Any volunteers ?” asked Kuzuryuu. 

“There's no way I'll volunteer ! Over my dead body !” Souda complained. 

“How about we use the classic technique named 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' ?” said Tanaka. 

“I don't see another solution, so let's do that. The two losers have to share a room, okay ?” Hinata said, and the rest of the guys agreed before starting to play. _I have a weird feeling about how this will end..._ Hinata thought. A few minutes later, they were done. 

“Hinata-kun, I'm so sorry, you shouldn't have to share a room with someone like me ! I really don't mind sleeping on the floor, so please, don't worry !” Komaeda said hurriedly, and Souda was snickering in the background.

“You're not going to sleep on the floor, okay ? The whole point of this was that no one would have to do that,” Hinata answered. Komaeda seemed like he wanted to argue with that, but he was interrupted. 

“What's this ? Nagito-chan and Hajime-chan are going to share a bed ? This is so exciting !” Ibuki sang.

“Did you decide how you were going to share the rooms ?” said Hinata, choosing to ignore her comment. 

“Nanami-san and I will be sharing a room for tonight, and we'll shift the pairing with the other girls each night. I must say I am quite excited about it, it will be like a sleepover !” Sonia said, delighted.  _That's actually a great idea, although if I offer that to the guys Souda will be against it and Komaeda will take it personally..._ Hinata thought.

“I don't mind sharing a bed with someone, I'll sleep in any condition anyway...” Nanami said before yawning. 

“Now, we should decide who will stay in which house. We'll let you girls decide first !” Nidai said.

“Mmmh... Let's stay in the Grape House, the Strawberry House is already straining my eyes...” Nanami sighed. 

“Then we shall stay in the Strawberry House !”

After finally deciding the sleeping arrangements, the class got out of the Strawberry Tower, and the girls went towards the elevator. The boys parted according to the results of their Rock Paper Scissors game ; since Hinata and Komaeda had to share, they stayed in the Deluxe Room, Tanaka stayed in the other Deluxe Room, Kuzuryuu in the Standard Room, and Nidai and Souda were in the Crummy Rooms. Hinata opened the door to one of the Deluxe Rooms, but couldn't help his nervousness. _As if there wasn't enough happening with him already, now we have to share a bed..._

“Hinata-kun, I insist that if you're uncomfortable sharing a bed with me, I don't mind sleeping on the floor, really !” Komaeda said, looking even more nervous than Hinata. 

“You're not sleeping on the floor Komaeda. Look, the bed is really large, so it'll be okay...” he answered, trying to hide how flustered he really was. 

“If you say so...” Komaeda said, sighing.

Hinata walked towards the bed, and after sitting on it he took of his shoes. He looked at Komaeda who still hadn't moved from his spot.

“Are you just going to stand there ?” he asked with an amused tone to try to make the other relax. 

“Ah, sorry !” Komaeda said, before finally moving. 

They got under the cover and Hinata turned off the lights, leaving the room dark and silent. However, Hinata knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep for some time, and according to Komaeda's behavior he assumed it would be the same for him. _This is totally not awkward,_ he tried to reassure himself.

“Goodnight, Komaeda.” 

“G-Goodnight Hinata-kun !” Komaeda spluttered. _He really is anxious, isn't he ?_ Hinata thought, a bit amused. An embarrassed Komaeda was quite a rare sight, and it was even rarer to see him not knowing what to say, and stumbling over his words. Because of what he had started feeling for the other boy, Hinata had been nervous about sharing a bed with him, but it seemedKomaeda was in an even worse state.

He turned so he was lying on his side, not facing Komaeda, and closed his eyes. He hoped he wouldn't take too long to fall asleep, and it made him realize that for the first night since they had started sharing pain, Komaeda didn't have a headache. 

 _Maybe he's more relaxed than I thought._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got this chapter done ! I hope you will like it since it contains some important things ^^  
> When I was thinking about how this chapter should go, I realized that since I saved some characters there wasn't enough rooms for everyone now, so I just had to make Hinata and Komaeda share a room :D plus, Komaeda's luck is a good excuse to write it that way haha ! Btw, I wasn't sure how to pair the girls, that's why I decided the most logical thing for them to decide would be to switch the pairs each night, so if any of you have a ship (or just a preference) between two girls of the remaining cast and you'd like to see them interact in this fic, let me now in the comments and I'll try to add a little something about them ! ^^  
> As always, I just want to say a huge thanks to all the persons who comment and leave kudos on this fic, you really keep me going ! I'm so glad everytime I see that someone has left a comment or a kudo on my work, so thank you so much for reading and supporting this! I already have a rough idea of what will happens next and how this will end, and a lot of things are going to happen, so I hope you will like it :)


	10. Pressure

There are screams, cries, and pain. Everything around Hinata is only panic. Then, all of a sudden, a heavy silence replaces the noise, and he's not sure if he prefers it. There are a lot of people around him ; all of them are dressed in black, and they are holding umbrellas. They are all adults, taller than him, surrounding him. Surprisingly, the voice he hears belongs to a child.

“My mother used to say that if it rains at a person's funeral, that means they were good enough to make the sky cry.”

Hinata turns around to face the owner of the voice, and he comes face to face with Komaeda. He knows it's him, but for some reason he's a lot younger. He's looking up at him.

“That's weird. I've relived this scene again and again, but it's the first time I see you there. It's the first time someone actually hears what I say too.

He doesn't understand what's happening. It's obvious that he's at a funeral, but why is Komaeda here ? And why is he so young ?

“Whose funeral is this ?” he settles on saying, no matter how stupid it sounds. Komaeda chuckles.

“That's a funny thing to say. Who comes to a funeral of someone they don't know ? You're even dressed for the occasion.” Hinata looks down to see his clothes, and indeed, he's wearing a black suit with a white shirt. He rarely wears suits because he hasn't got a lot of occasions, but he's surprised to see how familiar it seems. At his lack of answers, Komaeda continues. “It's my parents funeral, by the way.”

He remembers Komaeda saying he lost his parents in an airplane accident. _So that explains what happened earlier..._ What really shocks him is the expression on Komaeda's face, or rather, lack of. Everyone around him is moving fast, like they are on some busy street and they have other things to do, and their faces are blurry. But Komaeda, in the middle of crowd, carries a neutral expression ; he even seems a bit amused. Hinata can't help but point it out.

“Aren't you sad ?” he asks. Komaeda shakes his head.

“Not anymore. When it happened for the first time, I was. But this is just a memory that keeps playing inside my head. Well, the few things I remember of it, at least,” he adds, looking at the blurry faces of the people around them. “But it's the first time I see you there. I'm glad, actually. It gets lonely after all”, he say with a smile. Before Hinata can answer, he gets pushed by a passerby, and then another. Soon, Komaeda and him are carried by the flow of the crowd, so they decide to follow it. Komaeda reaches for his hand, and he takes it. It feels weird, walking next to Komaeda as a child, but Hinata decides this is far from being the only weird thing about all this. They walk, again, and again. They keep walking in silence for what feels like an hour, before the crowd spreads, letting them walk freely again.

They are in front of two graves, and there's no one around anymore. The rain has stopped, too, but when Hinata looks up at the sky, it's still gray and cloudy. He turns his attention to the graves in front of him, and then to Komaeda, who is still holding his hand. He notices that the boy is holding flowers in his free hand. They aren't really colourful, and he wouldn't be able to name them if his life depended on it, but he supposes that they are pretty. Komaeda takes a few steps, lightly tightening his grasp on Hinata's hand as a way of telling him not to let go, so Hinata follows him. Komaeda places the flowers in front of the graves, and takes a step back.

“Were you really close to them ?” Hinata asks. Komaeda hums, thoughtful.

“It's been so long, I'm not sure anymore. But I don't think so. I didn't hate them either, at least”, he answers, and Hinata decides that it might be one of the saddest thing he could have answered, that his owns parents weren't here long enough in his life to leave a more important impression on their child. Well, he thinks it's better than if they had abused him.

“I don't mind, really. I'm used to it now. With my luck, I would have lost them sooner or later, so it's better that I lost them before I grew too attached to them, right ?”

Hinata can't say he agrees, but he doesn't want to argue with him either. Suddenly, he feels a drop of water on his head, quickly followed by more and more. He looks at the sky to see that the rain has started again, a lot heavier than before. When he looks at his side again, Komaeda his gone. Alarmed, he starts looking around and shouting his name. He doesn't know why he's so panicked, but somehow he knows that nothing good will come out of this. He runs, and runs, even though he doesn't know where to search for him. At one point, he thinks maybe he has started running from something.

Then, he's in a hospital. He doesn't know how he got there, but he wishes he could find the exit. The dark and long corridor he's in looks like something straight out of a horror movie, so he walks as fast as he can. For some reason, he can't bring himself to run, and he feels like his legs won't carry him for long. He's right ; after a few more steps, they give out. He pushes himself up, but they continue giving out at every few steps. The corridor is endless, but eventually, he sees a silhouette a bit farther away. It gives him the strength to continue, and he quickly notices that it's Komaeda. This time, he's a lot more like the Komaeda he knows ; the only difference is that he's wearing a hospital gown.

Hinata, finally able to walk again, makes his way to Komaeda. Before he can say anything, the latter falls to the ground, pulling at his hair angrily. He looks like he's in pain and he's screaming. The hospital is turning darker and darker, and Hinata feels himself sink in the ground as if it were quicksand. Soon, everything around them is dark and invasive, but none of them are able to call for help.

 

 

Hinata woke up, panting, and instinctively turned on the lights. He looked at his side and saw Komaeda in the same state as him. They stared at each other in confusion for a moment, but then they both understood what happened : they shared a dream for the second time. This time, it obviously was Komaeda's dream, and it felt a lot different from every dream or nightmare he's ever had because he remembered it clearly, as if it had happened for real, like a memory perhaps. Hinata was quite shocked when the content of the dream came back to him, and he suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for Komaeda, since he had a glimpse of his past. And what a horrible past that was.

Komaeda seemed a lot more affected than Hinata which was understandable. If Hinata looked shocked, Komaeda looked terrified and was shaking from fear. Hinata had been able to calm down a bit since they woke up, but the same couldn't be said for Komaeda.

“Are you okay ?” he settled on asking.

“Y-Yes ! Don't worry ! I'm so sorry that you had to share my dream, and that it woke you up. We should probably go back to sleep now,” the other boy answered, but his voice was shaking and he sounded like he was having a bit of trouble speaking. He was still shaking in fear, and Hinata's mind flashed back to the day before, when Komaeda helped him while he was having what seemed felt like a panic attack. He hesitated a bit, before wrapping his arms around Komaeda, who froze, surprised.

“H-Hinata-kun ? May I ask what you're doing ?”

“What does it look like I'm doing ? I'm hugging you. You're obviously not fine,” he grumbled, starting to regret his choices. Komaeda didn't move for a short moment, which made the situation very awkward for Hinata, but then he finally wrapped his own arms around him and sighed in relief. He had stopped shaking too.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

 

* * *

 

Komaeda slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Hinata's face, which seemed to be really close to his own. He immediately flushed but didn't move, taking the opportunity to study his face. His eyes moved to Hinata's lips, and he briefly thought about how easy their proximity made it to simply press them against his o-

A small shift from Hinata made Komaeda turn away quickly from him, and he sat on the edge of the bed, thinking about what had happened. Because of his luck, Hinata had to share a room with him, and he felt guilty that his own desires had made his luck turn against him. He just hoped Hinata wasn't too mad about it. He shyly looked at the sleeping boy next to him. _This might be selfish of me to think, but this could be a lot worse._

Then, he remembered the dream -no, nightmare- that they shared the night before. He was used to living again and again the same scene during his sleep : his parents death, and they funeral. If it scared him when he was a child to the point that he would spend some of his nights awake to avoid it, over the years it didn't even surprise him anymore and it simply felt dull. What _was_ surprising was seeing Hinata in his dream. Sure, he had thought about the other a lot over the past few days, but he quickly understood that that wasn't the cause, and that the brunette was having the same dream as him. But the dream soon turned into a nightmare when he was taken to the hospital where he had learned about his medical condition, alone. The more the nightmare lasted, the more afraid he felt, and when he woke up he was utterly terrified. A warm feeling passed through him when he remembered Hinata comforting him and he found himself smiling as he chased away his thoughts of wanting more.

 

* * *

 

“Of course I'm not okay ! This is the worst, I can't take it ! We're going to die of hunger unless someone dies of murder, how could any of this be okay ?” Souda shouted at Tanaka.

“The human body can survive 3 weeks without food, and it's only been one day. Do not worry, there is still time before you need to seriously worry about that issue.” Even if the other had probably meant to be reassuring, it only made Souda angrier.

“I know that we're not in serious danger for now, but I'm just thinking about the future ! It's obvious that there's not exit here, so we're just gonna wait for someone to get killed, hoping it's not us...”

Souda didn't know why he was talking about everything that was worrying him with Tanaka, who he had thought was his enemy. In just a few days, he had begun to actually like spending time with him, and sometimes even sought his presence -much to his own surprise. But at this moment, the only thing he could think about was how he could _feel_ is energy being drained from his body with each action. Tanaka was right ; it had only been a day, but it was the thought of staying here for an undetermined period of time that made him anxious and easily irritable.

“Perhaps that is true. But there is not much that we can do now, except conserve our energy as much as we can, and distract our minds from the issue. Anger will lead to nothing.”

“I know that,” Souda said, sighing, “but I can't help being stressed over it. I don't want anyone else to die, but I don't want to die either...”

“I believe that everyone feels the same as you do. But do not worry, you will not die”, he said before pausing for a moment. He looked straight at Souda's eyes with a serious expression, making him suppress a chill. “I made a promise, didn't I ?”

“I... guess you did...” he replied, unsure of what to say. He was somewhat glad that for some reason, Tanaka wanted to keep him safe, but he also wasn't sure why. And he certainly didn't think that the other would take it so seriously.

 

* * *

 

Hinata was in the library with Komaeda. The latter had always like spending time there, and Hinata didn't mind ; the room was a nice change from the strawberries and the grapes.

“I really don't understand,” Komaeda suddenly spoke. “You've already been forced to spend so much time with me, and yet you still want to hang out. I honestly don't understand you. Of course, I'm only saying that for you because I enjoy every minute spent with you, ahah !” he continued, a bit more cheerfully this time.

“You don't have to search for an explanation every time I ask to hang out with you. I like talking to you.”

“Well, no matter the reason, I'm really thankful that there is someone interested in spending time with trash like me,” he said with a weak smile.

“I want to hear the rest of what you were saying last time”, Hinata bluntly admitted. There was no use trying to hide that he liked hanging time with Komaeda anymore, and that he wanted to know more about him. He felt like he could be somewhat honest with him, even if he wasn't completely sure it was reciprocal.

“I don't mind. Like I said before, and like you were able to see in last night's dream, my parents are dead. Since I had no other relatives, this time, my luck affected me directly.”

“W-what do you mean ?” Hinata asked, bracing himself for the worst. Komaeda already told him that he had been kidnapped, what could have had happened to him this time ?

“Stage 3 malignant lymphoma, and to top it off... it's accompanied by frontotemporal dementia.” Hinata felt his blood run cold as he heard Komaeda's words.

“You're kidding me, right ?” he asked, slight panicked and nervousness showing in his voice.

“My life expectancy is between half a year and a year... But, right after I was diagnosed, I was accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. Now, with this killing, my life has entered its final stage ! Do you understand a little better now, Hinata-kun ?” Komaeda said in a soft voice, while Hinata looked at him with eyes wide open. _I thought that I could never forgive him for what he had done, but..._ “You know, you and I are a lot alike. That's why, from the very start, I felt that you understood my feelings.”

Hinata didn't know what to say. He felt a great sadness inside him, and couldn't find any words that may make Komaeda feel better. The latter saw that Hinata wasn't answering, and decided to continue.

“I have no parents, no siblings, no relatives... Not even friends or acquaintances... I was fine with that when I was healthy, but it's quite lonely to die alone...” he sighed. “Now that I'm on the verge of death, I've finally realized what I wanted all along ; somebody's love.”

“Y-you !”

“From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with-” Komaeda paused for the slightest period of time before continuing, “the hope that sleeps inside you.”

And at this moment, Hinata felt something that he couldn't explain with words. This atmosphere, with Komaeda in front of him, intimate and precious... it just felt right, and something inside Hinata blossomed. He wasn't sure what it was, but it made him unable to take his eyes of Komaeda. _He's in love with... the hope that sleeps inside me ? Is that what he wanted to say ?_

But then, almost like it was answering his thoughts, he felt a sharp pain through his body. It wasn't in any place in particular, but it simply hurt him. He had never felt something like this before, and he was confused. He looked at his wrist, and saw Komaeda's initials, meaning that the pain was coming from him. He locked eyes with the other boy again, searching for an explanation.

“A-are you okay ? What's that ?” he asked, and the peaceful and earnest expression that had been on Komaeda's face disappeared as he saw that his initials were on Hinata's wrist.

“I-I don't know. What a weird situation, right ?” he said, but it was as clear as day that he was lying. He was usually good at it, but this time it was completely obvious. Hinata winced as the feeling felt even more painful.

“You're lying. It doesn't feel like anything like before, and you don't seem hurt, so...” something clicked in Hinata's mind. “Is this... emotional pain ?”

“What ? Of course not, that would be stupid ! Only Kuzuryuu-kun and Pekoyama-san have been able to feel that, and we're obviously not as close as they are with each other. I mean, you hate me, right ? You despise me, right ?” he blabbered, stress and panic showing in his voice and his sentences. With each word, the pain hurt more and more.

“What are you talking about ? It's obvious that I don't hate you, isn't it ?”

“But why would anyone like me ? And why you of all people ?”

“Komaeda, look, just tell me what's wron-”

“Nothing's wrong !” he snapped, anger showing in his voice. It didn't seem to be directed at Hinata, though, mostly at himself. It still surprised the brunette and made him back out a little, as he had never seen the other angry like that. Soon enough, all trace of anger disappeared from his face, like it had never been there in the first place, and it was replaced with a smile that was obviously fake. “I'm fine, Hinata-kun. I'll be going, then.”

And with those final words, Komaeda left the room with a quick pace, leaving Hinata completely shocked, with too much information to process. _What... just happened ?_

 

* * *

 

 

In the grape house, the girls had decided to spend the afternoon together as a way of distracting themselves from their hunger. When night time arrived, they had decided that this time it would be Sonia and Owari who would be sharing a room. Sonia was quite happy about this ; she really didn't feel like being alone these past few days. And it seemed Owari felt the same, because of everything that happened with Nidai. After they turned off the lights and said goodnight to each other, the room was silent. However, Sonia couldn't help but break the quietness.

“Owari-san... Do... Do you think I'm a good leader ?” she asked.

“Uh ? Where did that come from ?”

“It's just... In this situation, I can see that with each day passing, everyone is losing their motivation. We are still in our right minds, but I'm afraid that it won't last for long, and that I won't be able to stop it,” she confessed.

“Who says you have to stop it ?”

“Well, Togami-san used to be our leader, and he swore that as long as he was alive, no one would die, and he kept his promise. Since I'm the Ultimate Princess, I should be able to guide and help everyone just like he did, but... Sometimes I don't feel that way”, Sonia said. Owari hummed thoughtfully, and it took a moment for her to answer, probably because she wanted to choose the right words.

“Yeah, I think I get what you mean. But that's too much responsibility for one person to handle, ya know ? No one's expecting you to stop anything from happening, because you just can't. Most of the time people will just do what they want to do.”

“But if I can't help my classmates now, how would I ever be able to lead my kingdom ?”

“Those are two different situations, okay ? You'll make a great leader, I know that. Don't doubt my gut !” she reassured.

“I'll make a great leader ? How can you be so sure about that ?”

“You always do things that seem impossible for me. Like, you speak, I don't know, a bazillion languages ?”

“Thirty, actually, and a lot of other people can do that...” she answered with a chuckle.

“That's 30 times the number of languages I speak, okay ? Plus, you're always really good at cheering people up, and you're always making them smile. This afternoon, you even took my mind of food, and I can tell you that's crazy. My point is, your kingdom is lucky to have you. You'll be fine as a leader. And in our case, if you ever feel too burdened, I'll be there to back you up,” Owari spoke. Sonia smiled shyly, and even if the other couldn't see it in the dark, it could be heard in her next sentence.

“Owari-san... You're saying that I'm good at cheering people up, but I think you're quite fine at it too.”

“What can I say ? I can't let our princess be down at a time like this.” This made Sonia laugh slightly.

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata spent the afternoon mostly alone and worried after what Komaeda told him. He decided it would be the best to just leave the boy alone for the time being, and tried to think about what happened. Komaeda told him about his past, his diseases, his desire of not being alone before dying... Ant it simply made Hinata sad. When he first met Komaeda, he thought that he was simply a laid-back guy. Then, he saw his true nature, and he felt betrayed. But he would have never thought that there was so much more to him. He couldn't forgive his actions, but he could understand them a little better now, and he hoped beside how they left things off, the other would be calmer after sorting his emotions out.

 _Are we really sharing emotional pain now ?_ he asked himself. During the afternoon, he had felt a lingering pain from Komaeda, and it wasn't from a headache like before, so this was the only explanation that he had found. Still, he couldn't understand what made the other boy suffer.

He was already in the room, when he heard the door open and saw Komaeda. The latter tensed a bit after seeing him, but quickly regained his composure.

“Oh, h-hey Komaeda...” he said, and cringed at the awkwardness apparent in his voice and words. Komaeda didn't seem to notice it, and if he did, he didn't seem to mind.

“Hinata-kun,” he spoke in a surprisingly affirmed voice, “I must apologize.”

“Apologize ?” he asked, obviously surprised.

“Yes. Earlier, I shouldn't have left like that without saying anything. I... I panicked. I'm sorry”, he answered, not looking straight at him as if he was embarrassed.

“Oh... Well, that's okay. I'm glad you're not mad or anything anymore. Are you going to explain what happened ?” he tried asking. When he saw that Komaeda looked away from him, and quickly continued. “It's fine if you don't, really.”

“Thank you. I'd... rather not say anything for now.”

“That's alright”, he said with a smile that Komaeda returned.

“Well, isn't that cute ?” a shrill voice interrupted. Hinata recognized it immediately and groaned.

“What are you doing here, Monokuma ?” he asked him with a lot of annoyance in his voice. Monokuma snickered.

“Well, I didn't want to interrupt such an important moment, but I came to tell you that you have to be at Grape House tomorrow at seven. Don't be late, or there will be consequences !” he said, and left as quickly as he came. Hinata sighed.

“I hope he's not planning anything bad again, but knowing him...”

“Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, right ?”

After their conversation, they went to bed. It seemed the tension that had settled between them was gone, and Hinata felt a lot lighter than before. He briefly looked at his wrist, and was relieved when he saw that Komaeda's initials weren't here anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata was exhausted. It was late in the afternoon, and they had gone through Monokuma's Tai Chi lessons really early in the morning. It was their third day without food, and Hinata couldn't bear it anymore. He had to find the exit... no, he _needed_ to find the exit. He tried to think about where it could be, recalling every place in the Funhouse one by one. One place in particular marked his mind, one place he had never ever been in ; the Final Dead Room.

_That's it... That's gotta be it ! No one has been inside there yet... The exit has to be there !_

He couldn't even run, so he walked slowly towards the room. He felt like his legs were made of lead, but didn't give up. After what felt like probably the most exhausting walk of his life, he was finally in front of the door. He walked toward it, reaching for the handle, when-

“Don't do that.”

He whipped his head to the left and saw Komaeda standing next to him.

“K-Komaeda ? What are you doing here ?”

“Well, you started mumbling some things to yourself, and then suddenly you started walking like you had a precise goal in mind, so I was curious as to see what it was... But now, I can only tell you to stop.”

“Why ? Why should I stop ?”

“It depends, why do you want to go in here ?”

“Because I want to find the exit, it just... It has to be there...”

“Then I have to insist. Don't go in that room. The only thing you'll find here is the Ultimate Weapon, but I doubt you would do anything with that, would you ?” he asked with a smile.

“What would you know about it ? Why do you even care ? You just want me to murder someone for the sake of hope, right ?”

“That may be true. But... I also don't want you to die in vain. And it's obvious that with the name of this room, there is a chance that you might. Since you don't even care about what you would gain if you won, there's no use threatening your life like this, is there ?”

“But I can't stand it anymore... I'm hungry, and I'm sick and tired of being locked up in here...” Devoid of energy, he simply let himself fall on the floor. “I don't want to see those stupid strawberries on the walls, or those stupid grapes, or to even hear Monokuma's voice teasing us...” Komaeda looked at him, and sat next to him.

“I'm not sure if I can do anything to help with that. Unless you want to murder me, of course, which I would be pleased to help with ! But if there's something I can do, please tell me”, said Komaeda in an earnest voice. Their eyes were locked together, not breaking the eye contact.

“You... want to help me ?”

“Well, of course ! I thought I made that obvious already.”

Hinata wasn't sure why he did it, but the most logical explanation was that he simply wanted to. In fact, if he knew what was going on in his own mind at the time, he would have said that he had wanted to do it for a very, very long time. But at the moment his mind was a mess, just like everyone else's, except -quite surprisingly- for the one of the boy in front of him. Without worrying about what state his mind was at, Hinata leaned toward Komaeda, both of them still sitting on the ground and inadvertently -or maybe completely intentionally- putting his hand on the other boy's own. Komaeda's only reaction was a widening of the eyes, before he completely froze, waiting on what would happen next. Then, Hinata closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Komaeda's.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading !  
> As you can see, I decided to change a bit the last free-time event so Komaeda doesn't pretend everything he said is a lie. I figured that since Hinata shared his dream, he would have known that everything about his parents and his diseases was the truth.  
> I also wrote in present for the first part of this chapter (during the dream), because it felt more real that way ? So I hope it doesn't feel too weird haha. Since this is the first time I write such a long story in english, I'm not really used to the tenses but now I'm starting to like writing in present too. Anyway, I do hope you liked this, I think this might have been the longest chapter yet? I'm not sure. I had a lot of things planned for it, and I wanted to end it with the kiss so it was longer than I first thought !  
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos, they really mean a lot, and I'm so glad that you guys like this !!


	11. Consequences

Komaeda had not idea what had just happened, and he was pretty sure he was still asleep, or at least hallucinating. But when he noticed that the warm feeling of Hinata's lips was still lingering on his own, and when he suddenly felt the happiest he could ever remember feeling, he decided that this was indeed reality. Well, that didn't mean he knew what he was supposed to do at the moment. After all, he had received more affection from Hinata during their time on this island than during his whole life, so it seemed obvious that this was his first kiss. He wondered if that was the case for Hinata as well. He almost apologized, but he realized that the other had acted on his own, and he didn't understand why. They were still looking at each other, both unsure of what to do, and Komaeda thought it would be best to at least say something.

“H-Hinata-kun ? Why... Why did you kiss me ?” he asked, hoping he didn't have an accusing tone since he certainly didn't mind kissing Hinata, and tried to ignore the fact that he never thought that he would ever pronounce this sentence in his life.

“I'm sorry ! I should have asked you first, I don't know what came over me, I just... I just did...” he stuttered.

“Don't apologize ! It's alright. I should be thankful that an Ultimate would want to kiss someone like me... I'm only worried about all the bad luck that will follow !” was what he answered. However, that wasn't exactly what he had wanted to say. In fact, if he had been completely honest with the other, he would have said, 'No, I've wanted to kiss you the first time I landed eyes on you and I have only wanted that more and more ever since, so I'm only confused as to why you would actually do it. However, now that it has happened, I am slightly worried that everyone I have ever spoken to or even looked at will die as a result of this good luck, because that's how much I wanted to kiss you'. Of course, he kept that to himself.

“Look... I'm not sure why I... kissed you... But that definitely wasn't the result of luck,” Hinata spoke with a smile. If his sentence implied more, Komaeda didn't think too much about it because his words alone made him smile back.

“W-well, you're obviously tired and hungry, aren't you ? It's not that late, but we should probably conserve the energy we have left, so why don't we go to bed ?”

Hinata nodded and they began walking back to the room. When they were in it, Hinata didn't waste a second before collapsing on the bed. Soon, they had turned off the lights and that's when Komaeda realized how tired he actually was. He was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard Hinata's voice.

“By the way... Thank you for stopping me, earlier. I don't know what would have happened if I went in that room, but I don't want to find out”, he said. Komaeda smiled, even if the other couldn't see it.

“You're welcome, Hinata-kun.”

But he couldn't sleep without thinking again and again about what had happened. He thought about his feelings for Hinata. He had never felt anything similar in his life, and he couldn't remember the last time he cared for someone so much. He made him feel happy, like he was actually worth something. _But isn't that what's dangerous about him ?_ spoke a small voice inside his head. _Isn't that what's dangerous for him ?_ it continued. _If he gets too close to me, won't he end up dying ?_

He couldn't shake that thought. He had lost everyone that had been close to him, so why would Hinata be different ? What made him believe that he would survive ? It made him sick to even think about Hinata dying because of his luck, because of him. And yet...

_I want to believe in the tiny possibility that we can be together._

Yes, that was what he wanted. That was what he had always wanted, ever since he had started feeling this way for him. When he first discovered his own feelings, it didn't seem so important, since he had never thought that Hinata would actually return them. But when he thought about what happened... He couldn't fight the smile off his face. It had brought him hope. _Don't expect too much,_ he reminded himself. _He was on the verge of going into that room, and you know that's unlike him. He was hungry, tired, sick ; he wasn't himself._ He stopped himself from sighing at that thought. Would Hinata regret everything in the morning ? He didn't like that possibility, but it seemed likely that an Ultimate, and especially Hinata, wouldn't want to get that close to Komaeda.

As he thought about that, trying to ignore the uneasiness that had settled in his stomach, he heard a shifting of the sheets, and then he felt a warm hand reaching for his own before taking it. He froze for a second, before instinctively intertwining his fingers with Hinata's, turning his head on the opposite of him as if he would be able to tell how nervous he was and how much he was freaking out. Hundreds of questions shot through his mind, wondering why the other did that. After he finally calmed down, he was able to appreciate how nice and warm Hinata's hand was. He felt the latter squeezing his hand reassuringly, and he hesitantly squeezed back. _Did he notice that I was feeling bad ?_ he thought. He still had no idea why everything that had happened that day happened, but as he felt the presence of Hinata's hand in his own, it reminded that maybe it wasn't so important.

 

* * *

 

Nanami was sitting in the lounge of the Grape's House, almost asleep, when Ibuki walked in, walking quickly and speaking -almost shouting- to herself. Nanami sat up, awaken by Ibuki's rant.

“What should Ibuki do ? This is such a huuuge secret !”

“Whatever you're talking about, it won't stay secret for long if you say it out loud”, Nanami spoke, and Ibuki let out a scream of surprise.

“Chiaki-chan ! Ibuki didn't see you ! Were you sleeping here ? A bed would be 174.5% more comfortable than a chair,” she affirmed.

“That's quite accurate,” Nanami noted. “Anyway, are you alright ? You looked like something was bothering you, I think...”

“Oh ! That's right ! Ibuki had almost forgotten. Ibuki witnessed something increeedible ! You won't believe your ears !”

“What is it ?”

“Well, Ibuki's not sure whether it's a secret or not, so maybe it would be best not to say anything...”

“Then don't say it.”

“But in the meantime, Ibuki really wants to tell someone ! It's such juicy gossip !”

“Then say it.”

“Ibuki has a solution ! Ibuki's going to give you a hint, and then you'll have to guess the rest. That way, it won't completely be Ibuki's fault that you found out !” she said, proud of her decision. Nanami smiled, amused by her behavior.

“Alright, I'm listening then.”

“Ibuki saw two people kissing in the Strawberry House ! How crazy is that ?! Now you have to guess who it was !”

“Hmm... Two people kissing in the Strawberry House, you say ? There are twelve of us, not counting both you and me that leaves ten... Where was it in the Strawberry House ?” she asked, suddenly interest in Ibuki's game since it had turned into a harmless investigation. If this were a video game, she assumed solving Ibuki's enigma would be the way to gain friendship point with her, so she actually took it quite seriously.

“Right in front of the Final Dead Room !” Ibuki answered. Nanami's eyes widened. It couldn't be... Could it ?

“Was it Hinata-kun and Komaeda-kun ?” she spoke, after thinking about it for no more than a minute. Ibuki seemed shocked and took Nanami in her arms, lifting her off the ground.

“Chiaki-chan, you're soooo clever ! Are you psychic ? How did you guess it ?”

“Well, it wasn't that hard, really. I saw Hinata-kun, earlier, and he didn't seem well at all. He had that intense, worried look on his face while he was walking. At first, I wanted to follow him, but I saw that Komaeda-kun went after him and I knew he had the same intentions as me”, she answered. And that was the truth ; she had been quite worried about Hinata, but when she saw Komaeda walking after him, she was immediately relieved. Even if others would have thought that the white-haired boy might have planned something bad, she knew that it wasn't the case, and that Komaeda wouldn't do anything to harm Hinata. _It looks like the project worked even better than expected for those two..._ she thought, not bothering to hide the shy smile that formed on her lips.

“Ohh, so that explains it ! But still, Ibuki would have never thought that those two would actually kiss ! It was so sweet !”

“Hmm... I think they've really become closer over the past days.”

“Chiaki-chan, you might not seem like it at first, but you're really paying attention to everyone here, aren't you ?” Ibuki said. Nanami was actually surprised to hear her say that. Of course, it wouldn't betray her as being the traitor, but she didn't think she had actually shown how much she wanted to keep everyone safe.

“Well, everyone is doing their best to do that, I think...”

“Right ! But Ibuki's thankful that you and your psychic talents are here !” she happily sang, before hugging her again. Nanami let out a chuckle, and didn't have the heart to tell her again that she didn't actually have any psychic powers.

 

* * *

 

 

It was late at night, and everyone had to be asleep for some time now. Tanaka thought everything through one last time. He had already changed the time of all the clocks, and cleared the Final Dead Room, and now he was going to the Grape Tower for the final step of his plan, where he was going to kill Nidai. Everything had to be perfect. He knew that his classmates would most likely find out the truth about the case, like they had done before, but not doing a perfect job to cover up the traces would make them believe that he had simply sacrificed himself without fighting.

He was in front of the Grape Tower, and entered it with a determined step. Soon, Nidai understood the situation and the fight begun. As expected, he wasn't an easy opponent to defeat. There were a few times where he thought he was going to lose, but each time, his purpose made him continue.

After a long fight, Nidai was on the ground, almost defeated. All Tanaka had to do was push the button on the back of his neck thanks to his hamster and the hardest part of his plan would be done. He let out a small sigh of relief, and opened his mouth to order his companion, when he was tackled to the ground from behind. Panicked, he wondered who could have done that, repeating each step of his plan in his head. Did Nidai have an accomplice ? Was it the end for him ? Would he be unable to fulfill his promise ? Well, as long as someone died, the others would live, so he supposed that it was alright.

“What do you think you're doing ?! You might be crazy, but you're not a murderer, you idiot !” the person who tackled him shouted. He quickly recognized the voice ; it belonged to Souda. Tanaka turned around, still on the ground and Souda above him. The latter had an angry expression on his face.

“W-What are you doing here ?”

“I should be the one asking you that ! You're all beat up, and Nidai looks like he's going to die any minute ! Are you going to explain what happened or what ?”

“It's... It's none of your business,” he said, looking away as he did not think he could look him in the eyes at the moment. Souda didn't falter.

“We're sharing pain, you moron ! Have you forgotten already ? If you get beat up, I'll feel it too, so I think this actually concerns me !”

“I see, so you're angry because of the pain... Well, I mu-”

“I don't care about that !” he interrupted. “You almost kill someone ! After all those speeches you made about not giving up, all those times you actually cheered me up, I had begun to change my opinion of you, but all this time you actually wanted more than anyone else to kill someone ?!” he asked, disbelief in his voice. Tanaka finally looked at him, and the pained expression that the other had on his face hurt more than the fight he had just been through. He didn't want to say anything about his motives, but it seemed Souda had a complete misconception of his actions.

“If that's what you think, know that I didn't kill someone because I wanted to get out alone.”

“Then why did you do it ?” he spoke, just a little calmer this time.

“I... I made a promise, didn't I ?” he answered, not willing to say more. Souda's expression changed as he began to understand.

“You did that... To save us ?” Souda asked, but Tanaka didn't answer. He had already said enough, perhaps even too much. Souda continued. “It's useless to do it if you're not here when we get out. If I'm getting out of here, so are you. Get it ?” Tanaka hesitated for a moment. If he didn't kill Nidai, how would they get out ? He sighed.

“Fine. I suppose there is no use to argue with you.”

“Yep,” Souda affirmed before turning to his unconscious classmate. “Well, I guess I should take care of Nidai now, right ?” said Souda, and Tanaka nodded. He stayed with the other while he was repairing their friend as much as he could without tools. Soon enough, Nidai was on his feet again, though he did look a little weak.

“Huh... It looks like I lost this battle. But since I'm not dead, I'll only work harder now !”

“Yeah, don't worry Nidai, we worked things out so you're safe.”

“I see. Well, should we wait for Monokuma's Tai Chi then ?”

“Oh, I had forgotten about that...”

“Yeah, me too !” Monokuma shouted. Souda screamed in fear, while Nidai and Tanaka didn't even blink at the sudden appearance. “Someone was supposed to be murdered today, but it was stopped again... Because of Tanaka messing with the clocks, no one showed up either. I'm so depressed right now ! I guess I'll cancel the Tai Chi for today, just go back to sleep, I'll warn the others... Since no one was killed, it looks like you guys are going to stay there for a lot more time now... I wonder how that will play out,” he said with a proud smirk. The three boys looked at each other with unease, and Monokuma left.

“For once, let's listen to him. Conserve your energy ! Come back more dynamic tomorrow !” Nidai affirmed.

“I guess there's no other choice... Let's leave”, Souda said and walked out of the rooms, followed by Tanaka.

“Wait. I didn't have a chance to talk to you about what happened.”

“You have more to say about it ?” asked Souda. Tanaka nodded.

“I do not know what was the best thing to do, nor do I know whether you stopping me was a good idea. Now, it's unsure when we'll get out of this place, but... thank you for giving me a chance to survive with you”, Tanaka said. Souda seemed surprised and at lack of answer for a moment, but he -not so quickly- regained his composure.

“I-It's nothing. I couldn't leave you to die, now, right ? Things would be way too dull without you here, I guess...” he said, saying his last sentence less loud than the rest.

“The same can be said for you. You're quite an interesting mortal, I must say,” he affirmed with a smile that could almost be heard as he talked. Souda returned it, and they walked back to their respective rooms to finish their nights ; although it wasn't really night time anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

When Hinata woke up, he was only feeling slightly better than the day before. The hunger was still really hard on him, but that's not what he was focused on at the moment. It was rather how close Komaeda's face was to his own, and how they were still holding hands. It seemed the other was waking up at the same time as him, and he quickly realized that it was because an alarm clock was beeping.

_Wait... an alarm clock ? There's no alarm clock in the room..._

He slowly sat up and saw Monokuma in the center of the room, obnoxiously imitating the sound of an alarm clock -and succeeding.

“Can you please stop doing that ?” he asked irritatingly, glaring at the bear.

“Well, I can now that you're awake !”

“What do you want ?” he said, not sounding any less irritated than before. Komaeda, finally awake, sat up too.

“Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something here ? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt whatever's going on here !” he spoke, laughing as he looked at their hands. Hinata and Komaeda looked at each other, an embarrassed blush forming on their cheeks, and quickly separating their hands, Hinata ignoring how he missed the warm it had provided him.

“Is there any actual reason why you're here ?” he reiterated.

“Yes, there is ! Because of... restrictive events, the morning Tai Chi is canceled for today !” Monokuma announced. Hinata let out a sigh of relief, before nervousness took over it.

“Restrictive events ? What does it mean ? Did someone die ?” he questioned, anxiousness showing in his voice.

“Now, now, there's no need to panic. If you want to know what happened, ask whoever was involved. All you need to know is that no one died,” he said, exaggeratedly showing his sadness before continuing, “Yet.”

The bear finally left before Hinata could ask anything else.

“Well, I'm glad that no one died, but... I wonder what happened.”

“It is kind of surprising from Monokuma to actually cancel his Tai Chi because of whatever has happened, since it's supposed to make us in an even worse state than we are in right now.”

“You're right. Well, maybe we should try asking the others if they know what happened ?”

“What a great idea !” Komaeda said.

They got out of the room, looked around in the Strawberry House and saw that it was already 10 in the morning. Since they didn't find anyone, they decided to try the Grape House. They met Ibuki, who was as energetic as ever but who didn't know any more than them about what happened. She was even weirder than usual because she kept giggling as she was talking to them for some reason that they didn't understand. They met a few other girls who didn't know what happened either. Then, something came to Komaeda's mind.

“Hinata-kun, shall we try the Grape Tower ? If something happened, it might be there since I don't think anyone has checked it.”

“Oh, you're right. Let's go.”

They walked towards the Grape Tower, and saw that the door was already opened, so they went in. As they walked in the room, panic shot through Hinata's body as he took a step beck and tried his best not to scream.

Right in front of them, lying on the green floor of the Grape Tower, was the corpse of Nidai Nekomaru.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading !  
> This chapter was shorter than the previous one, because I had way less time to write it, I'm drowning in homework T_T Still, I do hope you enjoyed it ! I'm not sure when I'll be finished writing the next one since it'll probably be a hard one to write, but I'll work on it and hopefully I'll have more free-time ^^ (and hopefully I won't spend it playing Pokemon Moon haha)  
> I kinda changed Tanaka's plan since he didn't break the elevator button so it'll be easier for what's next ^^  
> We're getting on a really angsty part of Danganronpa in my opinion, so I'll try my best to write it well and not mess up the end of this fic !  
> As always, feel free to leave kudos/comments! I was so happy to see how much you liked the last chapter !! I really hope you liked this one too :)  
> By the way ! I always forgot to say it, but my tumblr is http://asterodroid.tumblr.com/ ! Please know that you're always free to come talk to me there :D


	12. Worry

Everything happened in the matter of a few seconds. Komaeda saw Hinata's face going from a neutral and mildly relaxed expression to an expression of realization, soon turning into pure terror. Then, his eyes darted to where Hinata was looking and he saw Nidai, his back against the floor of the Grape Tower and a huge wound along his torso. A blue liquid was flowing from it, which Komaeda supposed was his blood. Komaeda moved his eyes and noted every little detail he could in those few seconds, like the shape of the wound and the position of the corpse.

Then, he looked back at Hinata who was still frozen in place. He still seemed shocked by what he had seen, and Komaeda became worried, hoping he was okay, but gave him some time to recover. It didn't take him too long to compose himself and move again.

“Wait... The Monokuma announcement wasn't broadcast, right ? That means he might not be dead ?” Hinata asked quickly.

“I'm afraid he is. The Monokuma announcement only plays when 3 people have discovered the corpse. We should probably warn the others,” he offered.

“You're right... Let's go warn them,” he said before starting to walk out of the room, but Komaeda grabbed his wrist.

“We shouldn't both leave. If we do, the killer might come and mess with the crime scene.”

“That's true... Well, you guard the scene, I'll go get everyone else,” Hinata said and left, before Komaeda could stop him. _He let me guard the scene ? Isn't he afraid that I might mess with the evidence ?_ Komaeda thought immediately. He supposed Hinata wanted to get out of the room since he had the chance.

Only a few minutes passed before Tanaka and Souda arrived, and the Monokuma body announcement played. But Komaeda wasn't focused on the announcement since it was rather Souda's reaction that stood out. Usually, the latter would have exaggerated reactions every time he was afraid of something, but this time his face depicted a very clear emotion : confusion. Of course, he also seemed quite surprised and afraid, but he didn't scream in terror like he usually would. Instead, he did another thing that seemed odd to Komaeda ; he turned to Tanaka. Komaeda frowned. _Did Tanaka kill Nidai ?_ he began wondering. But his train of thoughts was interrupted by Souda.

“Hey ! Why are you alone in here ? You totally tampered with the crime scene, didn't you ?”

“Don't worry, I didn't touch anything. Hinata-kun and I discovered the corpse just a few minutes ago, and we thought it would be best if someone guarded the scene while the other warned everyone else.”

“Sure, because you're the most trustworthy person to be left with a corpse !” Souda exclaimed ironically. He didn't have time to retort since more people came in, and it didn't take long before the whole class was gathered in the Grape Tower. Monokuma arrived too.

“My own creation ! Destroyed ? How could this happen ?” he whined, faking sadness exaggeratedly and sobbing. Soon, his sobs turned into a laugh. “Well, guess you'll have to find the killer now ! Good luck !”

Komaeda opened the Monokuma File, but there was nothing that stood out. He would probably figure out more by investigating himself.

When Hinata hesitantly walked towards the corpse, Komaeda followed him. They started examining it, but there wasn't a lot to be said about it, except for the long scar along his torso. In fact, the overall impression of this crime was very different from the previous ones, from one fact : they barely had anything to work with. In fact, except for Nidai's wound and the blue liquid coming out of it, there was nothing. Well, that's what they all thought for a moment, until Hinata found a note crumpled in one of Nidai's hand.

“Amazing, Hinata-kun ! We probably would have missed this if you hadn't found it ! What does it say ?” Komaeda asked. He was quite curious about what might be their only piece of evidence. Hinata didn't say anything and simply handed the paper to him, and Komaeda became worried when he saw that his face had turned ashen. Komaeda's smile faltered for a brief moment as he read the paper.

'The answer lies in the Final Dead Room'

They both stayed silent for a moment. Then, Komaeda began walking out of the room.

“Well, there's only one thing to do, I suppose.”

“Uh ? You... You're not thinking of going there, are you ?!” Hinata asked while following him. Komaeda didn't stop walking.

“How else are we going to solve this case ? There aren't enough clues.”

“We'll manage, like we always have ! We haven't asked anyone for a testimony, someone might know something...”

“You're right. Try asking the others while I'm taking care of the Final Dead Room.” There were in front of the elevator now, and Komaeda thought this is where Hinata would stop following him, but he didn't. They both entered the elevator.

“You're not going in there, it's too dangerous ! You even stopped me from entering because you thought I might die, have you forgotten ?” Hinata said, starting to get angry. Komaeda wasn't sure why.

“Someone has to go. And out of everyone here, if anyone should die a meaningless way like this, it's obviously me.”

“No it shouldn't ! You're worth as much as anyone else here, why can't you see that ?”

The elevator beeped to announce they were now in the Strawberry House, and the doors opened.

“Hinata-kun, even if I can't keep you from thinking that, I know what I am. I'm aware of how worthless I am compared to you and everyone else,” he spoke as he got out of the elevator. He walked towards the Final Dead Room, Hinata following him.

“Maybe that's how you see it. And I'm sure everyone else sees it a different way. But in my eyes, you're the most important person here,” Hinata said with finality as they both stopped walking ; they had reached the room. Komaeda looked at him, confused but also amazed by the boy standing in front of him. He had said that so easily, so honestly. Komaeda didn't think he was lying, but he also didn't understand how anyone could think that way.

“I... I don't understand...” he admitted. Hinata's eyes had softened, and he wasn't as angry as he was before. He put both his hands on Komaeda's shoulder and looked at him right in the eyes.

“I really like you, okay ? No matter how worthless you think you are, it's not true. I probably can't stop you from going in there, but please, _please,_ be careful.” And as he said those words, Komaeda was overcome with the urge to kiss him, but also with hesitation. _It's okay, he kissed me before so I can kiss him too right ?_ he thought. _But what if he doesn't want to ? I shouldn't initiate something like that..._ he couldn't decide. Instead, he hesitantly brought his face closer to Hinata's, closing his eyes and stopping midway, hoping the other would close the gap and ignoring how stupid he must have looked at the moment, especially if Hinata didn't understand what he was trying to do _._ But then, he felt soft lips against his own, the warm feeling that he had felt before was back, and he felt like he was melting.

It wasn't a sudden kiss like the first one they had ; this time, Komaeda had expected it. But now that it was happening, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. _What am I supposed to do with my arms ?_ he thought. He tentatively cupped Hinata's face with his hands, bringing him even closer and feeling his warmth, briefly wondering if the other was blushing. He hoped that he was, because Komaeda felt like he was burning up, and the only sound he could hear was his heart beating fast and loud. It was so loud, and he was in such proximity with Hinata, he wondered if the latter could hear it too. He felt the hint of a tongue before Hinata pulled away slowly. He almost wanted to protest, but he thought against it. _Right, we're still in the middle of an investigation, we don't have all the time in the world._

“Be careful, alright ?” Hinata said.

“You already said that,” Komaeda answered softly with a slight smile. Hinata smiled back.

“It's because I mean it,” Hinata said, taking Komaeda's hands in his own.

“Hinata-kun, I still don't understand what's happening between us.”

“Well... Do you think it's something good ?”

“I think it's something that's too good for me.”

“It's not too good for you. I don't understand either, but I do know I want it to keep happening,” Hinata said. “If you want that too, that is,” he quickly added.

“I do. I mean, I'm still afraid of what bad luck will come my way, but I... I think I...” he paused, keeping himself from saying more. “Well, we should probably talk about all this after the trial, right ?” he shyly said. Hinata nodded, and quickly kissed him one last time. He then hesitated a bit before walking away. Komaeda couldn't help but feel a little guilty for worrying him so much, but if they wanted to move forward in this case, this was something he needed to do.

Before each case, Komaeda investigated as much as he could so he could be on the side of hope for the class trial. This time, as he opened the door to the Final Dead Room, there was something he was sure of.

_No matter which one it is, I'll be on the same side as Hinata._

 

* * *

 

It didn't take Komaeda long to solve the Final Dead Room, despite still feeling flustered from what happened with Hinata. Then, the gun appeared.

“Hey Monomi... There's something I wanted to ask you... In all honesty, I don't really understand the rules of Russian Roulette.”

“Ah, if that's the case... Load one bullet into the cylinder, then spin it. After that, point the gun toward and pull the trigger...” she explained. “But wait ! You can't do that ! There's a one-in-six chance you'll die !”

“Oh, I see... Then, that means the failure rate is only one-sixth... Hey, is that rule really okay ? Wouldn't it be too easy ? Remove one bullet from the gun... and then use it while there are still five bullets loaded... Yep, that would definitely make it a more thrilling game ! Let's give it a go !” he said with confidence, and pointed the gun to his head after taking one bullet out.

“H-Hold on Komaeda-kun... What are you doing ?” Monomi asked, panicked.

“Well, I'm playing Russian Roulette of course. It's not much of a talent, but... even I have an Ultimate-level talent, you know. If I can't win when there's only one-sixth chance of success, how could I even call it a talent ? If I'm truly the Ultimate Lucky Student, I need to survive here !” he affirmed, the gun still pointed to his head, but then lost a bit of his confidence. “... Right ?”

_Be careful, alright ?_

Hinata's words rang through his head, and his hand began to shake. How would the other react if he were to die here ? He could easily imagine everyone else's reaction ; most of them would act sad for good measures but would really feel even a little bit of relief inside them. Not that he could blame them, really. But for Hinata, it was different. He felt a twinge in his heart as he imagined his reaction when he would realize that he died in such a pathetic way, when he specifically asked him to be careful. And even if he did survive, how would the other react if he knew he had risked his life like that ?

He resisted lowering his gun. _I have to do this,_ he reminded himself, gaining more confidence. But then, he thought about the past few days, and how he had received maybe the most luck he could ever dream of. All the money from his parent's heritage and the lottery couldn't compare to this. _My luck is a cycle. What if dying is the bad luck I gain from finally having someone caring, even if it's just a bit, about me ? Shouldn't I remove at least one bullet ?_ he couldn't help but think.

“K-Komaeda-kun ?” Monomi, who had hid her eyes behind her hands in horror, said as she looked at him again. He shook his head, and tried to ignore what he had been thinking about, and remembered the message. _If I don't do this, we might never be able to solve this case. In the end, it will help him along with all the Ultimates._ With this thought, he tried to ignore how nervous he was feeling. It didn't work, and he hated himself for it. Nevertheless, he pulled the trigger.

The sound of the door unlocking could be heard. Komaeda kept himself from letting a sigh of relief escape his mouth, and tried to make himself look carefree.

“Haha ! Looks like we finally cleared the Final Dead Room.”

“I...I'm scared of you, Komaeda-kun,” Monomi said. Komaeda ignored her and walked towards the door, but she kept talking. “Wh-What made you hesitate like that ?” she asked. He winced, but didn't turn around to face her.

“I don't know what you're talking about. Well, let's go, the Octagon should be just beyond that door.”

He opened the door, and was welcomed by an alarming number of weapons of all kinds. It didn't really surprise him, and he looked around a bit.

“Congratulations Komaeda-kun ! You challenged yourself at the highest difficulty with only a sixth-chance of success... This deserves a present !” Monokuma suddenly said. He gave him an extension of the Future Foundation file, and another one with their profile from their time at Hope's Peak Academy. The second one made him more excited than the other. _I'll be able to find Hinata-kun's talent ! I'll finally be able to be useful to him !_

He didn't pay attention to the other things the bear said, and began reading the files.

At the same time, in a different location, Hinata was asking Nanami if she knew anything about the murder, but he was stopped in the middle of his sentence. Nanami cocked her head to the side in slight confusion.

“Hinata-kun, are you okay ?” she asked. He didn't answer, seemingly lost in thought. Nanami became worried when she saw his expression. “You look really pale, I think you should sit down for a bit...” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. It startled him, and he looked at her.

“Y-you're right. I don't feel so good,” he stated with a wavering voice, and glanced furtively at his wrist to get the confirmation he needed. Saying 'I don't feel so good' was an understatement to how he was feeling. He felt horrible. And knowing the pain didn't even come from himself made him feel even worse.

_Komaeda... What happened to you ?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading !  
> I'm sorry this is shorter than usual, but it was kind of hard to write >< hopefully I'll have less trouble writing the next one !  
> This whole Funhouse part is difficult to write, so I kind of lack inspiration sometimes ? I also don't want to mess up something about the case so I'm trying to be careful while writing this !  
> I hope you liked this ! A huge thank you for everyone who's reading this and leaving comments and kudos :D You're all awesome !


	13. Truth

“Did something happen?” Nanami asked.

“I... I don't know,” Hinata admitted. He was sitting on a chair in the lounge, the pain being too great for him to keep standing up. He simply showed her his wrist that was still displaying Komaeda's initials. “After seeing a message at the crime scene saying 'The answer lies in the Final Dead Room', Komaeda decided to go there, even when I told him not to,” he explained. Nanami's eyes widened a bit.

“You think he got hurt?” she asked.

“I don't think so. This... doesn't feel like physical pain... It's more like emotional pain. And it feels horrible,” he spoke, leaving a heavy silence between them at the implication of his words. Hinata didn't know what happened to Komaeda, but it scared him. What kind of emotional pain could have made him suffer like that? It wasn't going away either. Nanami seemed worried about Hinata, but knowing her she was probably worried about Komaeda too.

“I wish I could help you more, but I don't think I can.”

“It's fine, it's not your fault after all. I do hope Komaeda's fine, though.”

“I hope so too...”

They stayed together on the lounge for a bit, then Nanami left, wanting to investigate more. Hinata had talked to everyone, and no one seemed to know anything, except for Souda and Tanaka, but both of them refused to talk, saying they would talk to everyone during the trial. Now he had nothing to do but wait for the trial to begin, and he was alone with his own thoughts. After a few minutes, Komaeda suddenly appeared in his field of view. Hinata got up in a hurry.

“Komaeda! What happened to you? Are you okay?” he said, immediately walking towards Komaeda who had his head down, but suddenly stopped when he slowly lifted it. His eyes were out of focus, and he had a broken look on his face. It seemed like he was staring at nothing, almost like he was blind, and his eyes were slightly red and puffy like he had been crying. Hinata didn't know what to do, so he called his name again, hoping to get a reaction out of him. “K-Komaeda...?”

Finally, Komaeda looked at him, and Hinata felt even more pain, although he wasn't sure whether it was coming from Komaeda or himself ; he supposed it was from both of them. It looked like Komaeda was even sadder just by seeing him, and Hinata was even more worried when he saw that. Komaeda's lips began trembling slightly and his eyes were watering.

“Hina...Hinata-kun...” he whispered, and Hinata knew that it took him the best of his efforts not to break down crying while saying that. Neither of them moved, Hinata because he didn't know how the other would react if he did anything, and Komaeda because he seemed unsure.

“Is there something wrong?” he tentatively asked. The other chuckled weakly, but Hinata knew that was not out of amusement.

“I don't think there's anything right,” he answered. Before Hinata was able to say anything, a foreign voice chimed in.

“It appears... That it's time for the Class Trial!” Monokuma announced. Komaeda immediately turned his heels and began walking away.

“Komaeda, wait! What happened? What did you find out?”

“A lot of things. None of them could be used for the investigation, though. But I did find out your talent, amongst other things.”

“My... My talent?” he felt uneasy at that, but he was still curious. “What is it?” he asked. Komaeda stayed still, as if he was pondering. Then, he finally turned his head to look at him.

“You don't have one. You were just some Reserve Course Student from the Reserve Department,” he said with a disdain that hurt Hinata more than it should have. His voice felt so cold, so distant, and for a second he wondered if Komaeda had forgotten everything they had been through together. But when he looked at his eyes, he knew that wasn't true. Behind that cold facade he put up, there was something else, something that reminded him that he was still there, just as confused as he was. Then, he looked past Komaeda's expression and actually understood the words he had spoken.

At first, he thought that was obviously false. He was from Hope's Peak Academy after all, so it was obvious that he should have had a talent. But then, he found another thought forming in his head. The amnesia. The nightmares. The dots connected, and it hurt. _Of course I don't have a talent. How could I ever think that I have one? How could I ever think that I was above average?_

“That means you're only a stepladder... Just like me. But you should feel honored.”

He tried his best to swallow the truth to face Komaeda, even if he was acting in a completely different way that he wasn't sure he could deal with at the moment. He doubted the latter had reacted that because he found out he didn't have a talent, so he decided he would focus on Komaeda and on the class trial at the moment.

“Did something else happen?” he quickly said.

“Huh?” Komaeda probably wasn't expecting this reaction. It did take him a lot of effort not to freak out despite what he had just learned.

“You look like you learned a lot more than that. I felt a lot of pain, you know. That wasn't from learning that I didn't have a talent, right?” he asked as a rhetorical question, but it sounded a lot more like something he hoped was true, like the need for reassurance that he had at the moment.

“You're right, Hinata-kun. I don't really care about _that_ ,” he stated, despite how he had acted a moment before. It didn't feel like a lie, but it also felt like it implied more. Like Komaeda didn't care about Hinata's talent, but that he did care about something else.

“Komae-”

“We should hurry up,” Komaeda interrupted. “There's a class trial waiting for us.”

And as they walked together towards the Strawberry Tower, Hinata felt dreadful. Komaeda looked like he had completely changed since the Final Dead Room. Not only Komaeda, but this whole case felt odd. Like something didn't belong. They had only went through two other Class Trials, but he could tell that something was different.

 

* * *

 

 

Komaeda wanted to laugh at himself, but he didn't have the strength to. But really, he shouldn't have expected less from his bad luck cycle. He had finally felt happy in a way he wasn't sure he had every felt before, but now it was like everything had been taken away. He hated himself, he hated his classmates for what they had done in the past, but most of all... He couldn't tell how he felt about Hinata.

Hinata, the talentless Reserve Course student who was the less likely to be the traitor -meaning he was the less likely to be the only one worth saving among all of them. Hinata, who just like his classmates and himself had fallen into a pit of despair, even though he couldn't remember it. And among everything else, Hinata, the first person in a long time to genuinely care for Komaeda and bring him happiness.

 _He doesn't even have a talent,_ he haughty reminded himself.

 _Does it really matter?_ he retorted.

He thought about what had happened when he told Hinata that he didn't have a talent. He remembered hesitating before doing so, because he knew that since Hinata loved Hope's Peak Academy as much as he did, it would deeply hurt him to realize that he didn't belong there the same way everyone else did. To realize he wasn't talented. He hesitated, thinking that maybe he could leave him in that ignorant bliss of believing he had a talent. But he had told him anyway. Somehow, the idea of lying to Hinata was an idea he found himself hating. And the truth had hurt Hinata. A lot. He felt it, and it had been confirmed by the initials on his wrist. So why did the other act like everything was fine? Like it didn't matter to him? If Komaeda hadn't felt how much it hurt Hinata, he would have even mocked him for it. But he didn't.

_But why do I even care? After what he's done... After what we have done... We don't deserve to live._

And yet, no matter how much he wanted to feel otherwise, his feelings for Hinata kept resurfacing. He wanted to push all his thoughts away, but he simply couldn't. Despite everything he had just learned about him...

“Why... Why do I still care about you?”

“Uh?”

“I know that you don't matter at all, so why do I care about you?” he muttered, as if he were talking to himself even if he was talking specifically to Hinata. Of course, the problem wasn't exactly Hinata's lack of talent, it was rather what others things he had learned about both of their pasts. But he couldn't exactly tell the other that. He turned his head as to not face Hinata, as it pained him too much.

“Look... I don't know what happened to you in the Final Dead Room, and why you're acting like this, but when you'll be more open to talk... I'll be there”, he said before walking towards the Class Trial, leaving Komaeda the only one left.

 _Don't say things like that..._ he thought. Those kinds of things made him feel even worse. Because how could someone that he held so very deeply in his heart have done those kinds of things?

_Maybe it would have been better had I not gotten closer to you._

For some reason, that sounded wrong.

 

* * *

 

 

Everyone was, once again, in the room where they already debated twice about the murder of one of their classmates. Since they were in the funhouse, the room was quite different from what they were used to ; the walls were just as brightly colored as the place where they had spent the last few days. But what seemed weird to Hinata was that Monokuma wasn't, like usual, seated in his red and golden throne. Instead, he was between Tsumiki and Togami's portraits, right in front of Hinata.

“Why are you sitting here?” Hinata asked.

“This trial is going to be a really interesting one, so I want a seat in the front rows to watch it of course!” he said, before laughing in that obnoxious laugh of his. Hinata sighed and decided to let it go, so the bear continued. “Now, let's begin the class trial!” Souda decided to talk first.

“There's something Tanaka and I have to tell you guys...”

“Are they gonna tell us they're engaged or something?” Kuzuryuu mumbled.

“That's not it! That's not it at all!” Souda snapped, embarrassed. “I guess Tanaka should be the one to tell you.”

“Right. There is something that I must admit to all of you. You see, last night, I... I intended to kill Nidai,” Tanaka said in a grave tone, and the room fell silent. The first person to react was Owari.

“You planned to kill him?! That means... You... You just confessed, right? You're the one who killed him, is that it?”

“That's my point. I know that might be hard to believe, but I'm not the one who killed him.”

“You're right, that is really hard to believe!”

Tanaka sighed and began explaining everything that had happened the night before ; how he had planned to kill Nidai, how they fought, and how Souda had been able to stop him from murdering Nidai.

“Tanaka-san, I... I can't believe that...”

“I must apologize to all of you. This is the truth, and I thought to move forward in this case you ought to know it.”

“But then, if you didn't kill him... Who did?” Hinata asked. “I mean, Nidai should have come back to his room right after everything happened since Monokuma's Tai Chi was canceled...”

“Maybe he did, but he met someone on the way who killed him and moved his body to the Grape Tower?” Koizumi offered.

“But what about his wound? It would have left a blue trace if you moved his body. Plus, I'm not sure any of us would have been able to move someone as heavy as Nidai...” Souda countered.

“Well that's only if the wound was the cause of death, right? What if it had been inflicted after he died?” Koizumi retorted.

“Is there even a way to find out what's the cause of death? Tsumiki's dead, and Nidai's a robot anyway,” Kuzuryuu said.

“We don't have nearly as many clues to work with as we had in the previous cases,” Pekoyama stated.

“But it's obvious what the cause of death is!” Ibuki said. “Ibuki didn't look very closely at Nekomaru-chan, but what else could it be?”

“I'm not sure, but... What if it was a suicide?” Nanami suddenly said. Everyone looked at her, so she went on. “I mean... According to what Tanaka-kun said, Nidai-kun had lost their fight. Without Souda's intervention, he would have died. And he knew that if he died, everyone else would have been said, so... I don't think it's out of character to think he might have killed himself.”

Everyone stayed silent for a moment. It did seem plausible, but there were some things that just didn't click.

“But... Nidai was a robot created by Monokuma, and he added tons of weird functions! That guy has a sick mind, he would have probably put a “push to immediately die” button, right?” Souda said.

“Wow! That's a good one, Souda-kun!” Monokuma laughed.

“Shut up! Just tell us whether you put one or not!”

“Mmh... I wonder... I'm an old bear, you know? My memory isn't that great... But I think that might have been a possibility...”

“See? If Nidai wanted to kill himself, he wouldn't have had to do it in a violent way like that! Plus, they weren't any weapons at the crime scene!”

“Oh... Then, I guess you're right,” Nanami agreed. “It really was a murder... Probably.”

“And now we're back to square one,” Kuzuryuu sighed.

“I'm sure it's all that guy's fault,” Souda said, looking at Komaeda. “I mean, when we arrived at the scene, he was alone with Nidai! He could have totally tempered with the evidence!”

“What did you say?” Komaeda said, in an irritated voice that was uncharacteristic, and that made Souda flinch.

“Hey, what's up with him?”

“Look, Komaeda didn't do it. I was with him when we discovered Nidai's body, and I would have seen it if something had changed...” Hinata said.

“You wouldn't have noticed if it were a small detail!” Souda retorted.

“I didn't touch anything, if it can reassure you. Our lack of clues isn't my fault.”

“Hold on,” Pekoyama spoke, “Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hinata and Komaeda discovered Nidai's body first, right?” Hinata nodded. “I remember that just as you announced me that Nidai was dead, we both heard Monokuma's corpse announcement. Is that correct?”

“That's what happened, yes. I happened to see Souda and Tanaka first, so I told them to go to the Grape Tower as fast as possible. By the time I ran into you, they had reached Nidai's corpse, and that's why we heard the announcement when I was warning you about it. What's so strange about it?” Hinata asked.

“The announcement plays when three people have discovered a corpse, if I remember well. In the case Nidai was killed... Shouldn't the killer count as one of those three people? So isn't it weird that the announcement didn't play just as you and Komaeda discovered Nidai's corpse?”

“Wh-what are you implying?”

“I don't want to make any assumptions. There are several possible situations : if the killer is not included in the count, then it's normal there wasn't any announcement. If the killer is included in the count... Well, that means Nidai killed himself, or one of you two killed him.”

Hinata froze, and he was pretty sure his face became white as a sheet. They were in a trial, so it was only natural that people would suspect each other. He wasn't the first innocent person to be suspected in a trial. But still, hearing someone openly accusing him like that, it made him sick and uneasy, even if he knew that he didn't do anything. He shared eye contact with Komaeda, who looked completely unfazed by the accusation -not that it surprised Hinata.

“If you're saying that one of those two killed Nidai, it's obvious who it is, right?” Souda suddenly said, breaking the silence. He didn't say anything more, but it was quite easy to understand who he was talking about.

“Monokuma, could you tell us if the murderer is included in the count?” Pekoyama asked the bear.

“That's asking a lot! Based on what you said, that might help you figure out the killer! Why should I help you?”

“Come on, tell us already!” Koizumi said angrily. “It would be unfair not to!”

“Unfair?” Monokuma repeated. “Who said this whole game has ever been fair?” he spoke, and the room fell silent. The trials had never been fun to begin with, but those words made everyone even more tense.

“So... You're not going to tell us?” Souda asked.

“Nope!”

“Does that mean we're back to square one, _again_?” Kuzuryuu asked in an annoyed tone.

“Maybe we should discuss the possibilities offered by Pekoyama-san. Maybe Nidai-san did kill himself?” Sonia offered.

“And why would he do that? We already talked about it. If he did kill himself, he wouldn't have had to do it in such a gruesome way. Plus, he could have left a letter or something so we wouldn't have to go through this again,” Kuzuryuu retorted.

“Then... What about the murder weapon? Was there anything in the funhouse that could have been used as one?”

“In the Final Dead Room, yes,” Tanaka said. “But I don't think the same can be said about the rest of the Funhouse, which means whoever killed Nidai cleared the Final Dead Room.”

“I don't think we can find out who could have done that and who couldn't have, but maybe we should see who has an alibi and who hasn't,” Sonia proposed. “First, we need to decide when the crime occurred, and when the body was discovered.”

“Apparently, Tanaka changed the time on the clocks, so whatever time we saw there, we have to subtract one hour”, Hinata reminded. “At what time did you last saw Nidai?” he asked Tanaka.

“Around the time I was supposed to kill him, which coincides with Monokuma's Tai Chi : 7 o'clock.”

“Nidai's clock displayed 8 o'clock,” Souda added.

“So that means we have to find out who doesn't have an alibi between the time Monokuma told us the Tai Chi was canceled and 8 o'clock, right?”

“But when Komaeda and I came out of the room, right after Monokuma woke us up, it was 10 in the morning... Well that was the time at the clock, so it was actually 9... That's an hour after the murder!”

“Oh, well, about that... I might have woken you guys the last, for obvious reasons. Everyone was actually up a lot sooner!” Monokuma laughed.

“Hey, what does he mean when he said 'for obvious reasons'?” Owari asked.

“Oh, you see, that's actual-”

“Nothing!” Hinata interrupted, remembering the fact that he woke up holding hands with Komaeda. “Don't listen to him!”

“So you admit that before that, they were both asleep?” Pekoyama asked.

“Ugh... Fine, I guess I can admit that...”

“Then I suppose none of you two are the culprit,” she said. “My apologies”, she bowed her head slightly. Hinata felt relieved.

“It's... It's alright,” he said.

“Then, each of us should state what they were doing at that time.”

And they did. Nanami, Sonia and Owari had been together in the lounge, Koizumi and Ibuki, who had shared a room had been together only to part a little bit after 9 -that's when Ibuki crossed paths with Hinata and Komaeda-, and Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu admitted that they had spent time together during that time as well. As for Souda and Tanaka, while they parted and went into their own rooms at first, Souda confessed that he couldn't sleep because he was afraid Tanaka would do something stupid again and they had spent time together -which was why they arrived together at the crime scene.

“But then... Everyone has an alibi, right?” Hinata concluded.

“How is that possible?”

“Well, that means it was a suicide after all,” Nanami said. “Probably.”

“So he did go into the Final Dead Room, then?”

“I found a note in his hand saying 'The answer lies in the Final Dead Room'...” Hinata said.

“You did?! Then... Did you go in it, Hajime-chan?” Ibuki asked. Hinata was about to answer, but Komaeda interrupted.

“I did,” he said. “During the investigation.” He had barely talked during the trial, so everyone was listening to him and waiting for him to say more, but he didn't.

“And?” Kuzuryuu pressed him. “Did you find any answer?”

“As Tanaka-kun said, there were lots of weapons, and I also found out some things about the Funhouse, although they are irrelevant in this case. Since I cleared it at the highest difficulty, Monokuma also gave me some files, but I believe I was the first one to have them so it doesn't concern Nidai-kun's case.”

“Wait- he gave you files? That sounds important, were they files of our time at Hope's Peak?” Kuzuryuu insisted.

“That's none of your business,” Komaeda snapped in a condescending tone.

“You bastard, you better apologize...”

“Now is not the time,” Pekoyama interrupted. “We are trying to find out the truth about our classmate's death.”

“Yes, and I'd prefer we do it quickly. This is getting boring,” Komaeda said.

Kuzuryuu scoffed but didn't insist. Hinata was lost in his thoughts.

“Something doesn't add up... If Nidai didn't have the files, and there was nothing worth noticing in the Final Dead Room, then why would he tell someone to go inside it? Seeing how he died, if he did kill himself he must have gone inside the room so he must have known there was nothing in it...”

“Maybe he's not the one who wrote the note,” Komaeda said. Hinata locked eyes with him. _He must have figured out everything already... Is he trying to help me?_ “And in the same way, maybe the one who injured him and the one who killed him are two different persons, since there was no murder weapon at the scene.”

“Do you mean that... He killed himself, but someone else injured him and put the note in his hand?”

“It was rather unnecessary, wasn't it? The note, I mean. I can't find a single reason to explain why the killer would want one of us the go in the Final Dead Room. Well, actually, I can find one ; since it was irrelevant with this case, he hoped that maybe someone would die while going in it.”

“But who would do something like that? Everyone has an alibi!”

“Think outside the box, Hinata-kun”, Komaeda said with a smile. It might have been the first time since the other went in the Final Dead Room that he smiled somehow honestly to him. “Isn't there something that seems strange to you about this case? Isn't there someone that's acting different from usual?”

Hinata thought about his questions, and it felt as if there was no one else but Komaeda and him in the courtroom. _Someone acting different from usual..._ He reviewed everyone in his head, including himself, but he knew that wasn't it. _This case isn't like the others._ Then, something clicked in Hinata's mind and the puzzle assembled himself.

“Of course! There's only one person that could have done it!”

“Uh? You understood what Komaeda meant?”

“Does Hajime-chan know who the killer is?”

“We have found the killer since some time now,” he said. “Nidai killed himself. What we failed to understand was _how_ he got his injury and _how_ the note got in his hand. But it's obvious now. It has to be him!” he declared while pointing at Monokuma. The bear slowly turned towards him.

“Huh? Me? Have you forgotten the rules of the trial?”

“I haven't. I'd ask if you forgot the rules of this school trip, but since you made them yourself, that doesn't really count, does it?”

“Oi, Hinata, I think you've got the wrong person here! I mean, how could it be Monokuma? Even if we don't like it, it has always been one of us...” Owari said.

“That's true,” he admitted. “But as far as I recall, he didn't _say_ it was one of us this time, we just assumed it because it always has. If Nidai did kill himself, Monokuma only added a little difficulty to the crime scene, so technically he didn't break any rules of harming students.”

“Plus, Monokuma seemed a lot upset about how the Future Foundation prevented some killings, didn't he? He probably did it out of spite,” Komaeda added bitterly.

“Well, if you put it that way...” Owari said. “Tell us already! Did you harm coach Nidai just to lead us the wrong path?” she asked Monokuma, who had stayed silent and unmoving. Finally, the bear raised his head, keeping a neutral expression and tone of voice.

“Oh my... You really are a boring bunch, aren't you?”

“W-What?”

“I really thought you might not figure this case out... Then, I could have planned an execution for all of you, and there would have been no survivors... That would have been perfect... So despair inducing! But you disappoint me yet again. You're nothing like the main cast.”

“The main cast?” Hinata repeated.

“Anyway, there's no point hiding it now. Yes, Nidai killed himself. He lost that fight and was supposed to die twice anyway, so he committed suicide, whatever. Oh, and he left a letter. Copying the main cast... That guy has no personality...” he said, showing a fold paper and opening it. He cleared his throat, and began reading it in a bored voice. “To everyone, I am sorry that you found about it that way, but I was afraid someone would try to stop me... If I can save all of you by dying, I'd gladly to it... Keep fighting... and so on,” he read.

“Hey! You skipped some parts!” Owari interrupted. "You better read the whole thing!"

“Komaeda-kun was right, this trial is boring! Let's just skip to the vote, shall we? There won't be an execution anyway, so why bother?” he sighed.

“That's unfair! You messed with this case!”

“I did,” Monokuma said in a playful tone. “What are you going to do about it? The Future Foundation cheated when they added their little system in the middle of the game, so I don't see why I shouldn't cheat as well!”

Everyone looked like they wanted to protest, yet no one did ; they all knew that it was useless. It was true, after all, that they were powerless against whoever the mastermind was.  _Whoever they are, they're a sore loser,_ Hinata thought. And just as Monokuma said, they proceeded to the vote. They all voted for Nidai and it was confirmed that he killed himself. Monokuma had basically admitted it, but Owari still looked hurt by the result. 

“Old man Nidai... How can you tell us to keep on fighting when you didn't in the end?”

“Owari-san!” Sonia exclaimed. “That's not what you should say right now! I'm sure that Nidai-san's suicide was his last way of encouraging all of us, and telling us not to give up! So please... Don't be sad,” she said with a sympathetic smile. Owari looked a bit surprised, but returned her smile, although it seemed hard for her to do so.

“Yeah, you're right... Thanks, Sonia.”

“Sonia-san! You always know how to cheer me up!”

“She wasn't even talking to you...”

The tense atmosphere seemed to have dropped, yet Hinata couldn't even try to smile like the rest of them. He was still worried about what Monokuma had done. After all, if he didn't mind cheating like this, could he do it again? They were able to see through his lies this time, but what if they couldn't next time? And that wasn't even what he was the most worried about. He glanced at Komaeda, who looked straight in front of him, and it almost felt like there was an indistinguishable veil shielding his eyes. The boy briefly looked back at him, but he quickly adverted his gaze.

_Please... Just talk to me._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated! And just on time for Christmas haha, you could say this is my present for all of your readers!  
> This chapter was a really hard one to write, since this time I didn't simply skip the case and I actually wrote one (although it nearly as complicated as the ones in the game)! I hope you liked it, one of the reasons why I took so long to update was because I didn't want something to be incoherent in the case and ruin it :o It's totally possible that I made some mistake in the previous chapters though, I might not have noticed (I sometimes forget what I've written in previous chapters haha) so if I did let me know and I'll try to fix it! Since this fic is mainly about Komaeda and Hinata's relationship, I didn't want the trial to be way too important either so there was still some Komahina before and after it ^^  
> I really hope you liked this! Thank you for reading my work, leaving kudos and commenting, and I hope you spend nice holidays!


	14. Acceptance

When they all got out of the Funhouse, it seemed everyone was glad that there wasn't another execution even if they were still mourning over Nidai's death. Hinata, however, couldn't take his mind off everything that had happened around this case, and especially to Komaeda. He wanted to talk to him, but he had disappeared from sight so Hinata figured he wanted to avoid talking to anyone at the moment. He could understand that as he felt the same way and quickly went to his cottage.

_I have no talent._

That sentence that he had done his best to push away kept playing in his mind over and over again, yet he didn't want to hear it. He wasn't sure whether he would have preferred thinking that he had a talent while not knowing what it was, or knowing the truth as he did know. A lot of people would have told him it wasn't that important, that talent wasn't everything in life, but it mattered to him. A few years of his memories had been erased, and now he actually felt grateful for that. There were probably filled with days reminding himself that he wasn't talented like everyone else, so of course knowing that he was just an ordinary person hurt a lot. _So that dream I had, in that classroom... Was it actually a memory? I was thinking I wanted to go somewhere I belonged. Did I feel like I belonged in Hope's Peak despite not having a talent? Is there any place where I belong?_

And that last thought suddenly made him feel even worse. He doubted his classmates would start looking down on him because he didn't have a talent, but he would not be able to forget that he was somehow different from them. He wondered how he even ended up in this island with them, since he was from the Reserve Course. He briefly asked himself if the fact that he didn't have a talent like everyone else would make them believe that he was the traitor, or if it would have the opposite reaction -although it seemed everyone had forgotten about the traitor for now.

All those toxic thoughts made him feel like he was suffocating, and he suddenly felt the need for some fresh air. He wasn't sure how much time had past since they got out of the Funhouse, but he realized he must have spent a lot more time in his room than he previously thought, since it was already dark outside. Since his classmates were probably all in their respective rooms and he didn't feel like talking to any of them at the moment, he decided he should go for a walk. He was feeling so trapped in his own room at the moment that going outside was almost a need.

At first, he was walking at a fast pace, and if someone was looking at him they would have probably thought he was running away from something -which he might have been. But then, as he got farther and farther away from the hotel, he felt a bit... safer. He ended up at the beach where they first arrived, the first place they saw on this island. It probably wasn't the most peaceful place on the island since it was where he had lost consciousness and where Monokuma had first appeared on the monitor, but it was where he wanted to be at the moment. He sat on the sand, bringing his knees to his chest and holding them with his arms, and looked up at the stars. No matter how beautiful they might have been, they didn't stop the dreadful thoughts from coming through his head, and he buried his face in his arms.

“I'm not surprised to see you here,” a voice said, piercing through the silence of the night. Hinata quickly looked up in surprise and saw Komaeda standing in front of him. He briefly realized how lost in thoughts he must have been not to hear the boy's footsteps in the sand coming closer to him. “I'd ask if you were okay, but the answer seems obvious,” Komaeda continued before sitting next to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to check up on you,” he said, showing his wrist where Hinata's initials were being displayed. It didn't even surprise him that Komaeda had felt emotional pain because of him. What did surprise him was that the latter would actually check to see if he was okay, considering how he had been acting. Hinata stayed silent, avoiding the other's gaze, so Komaeda kept talking. “Is it because you don't have a talent?” he asked. Hinata's eyes widened slightly. Even if he kept thinking about it, hearing someone else reminding him hurt more than usual. Komaeda must have felt it, since he laughed in surprise. “I guess that must be it, then.”

“It's not only because of that, it's just... An accumulation of everything that happened to us ever since we were on this island, I guess,” _and how worried about you I am,_ he thought but left unspoken. “Though learning that I don't have a talent like everyone else does hurt a lot...” he said. Komaeda hummed.

“I can't imagine how that must feel,” Komaeda said, leaving a sting on Hinata that he chose to ignore. “Sorry, I'll try not to phrase what I'm trying to say the wrong way,” he apologized with a chuckle. “What I mean to say, is that... Well, I don't know if it will change anything at all, but... I think that... The person that I've learned to know during the days I spend on this island is the most wonderful person I've ever had the chance to meet. And simply saying that goes against everything that I believe, since you don't have a talent. Talent is an important thing to me, but in your case, I don't think it matters at all. You've shown me so much hope without even having a talent... Who knows? Maybe that's a talent in itself.” As he was saying this, his gaze was lost in the vast ocean in front of him. Hinata chose, instead, to look directly at him and he almost felt like he was discovering the boy sitting next to him all over again. There was so much he wanted to say as an answer to Komaeda, about how he had said exactly what he needed to hear, how much he had wanted to hear it from _him_ , but instead he simply muttered a 'thank you', not thinking he could manage to say anything more at the moment.

They stayed like this, sitting next to each other on the sand with the sound of the sea being the only thing breaking the silence. None of them said anything for a while, but none of them felt like leaving. Being at this place, at this moment, it made them feel like everything bad that had happened to them and that might happen to them had stopped existing. Of course, that wasn't true, and Hinata knew that the moment he would get up, he would have to go back in his cottage and then face the rest of his classmates. That's why he didn't want to get up just yet.

Eventually, he started getting really sleepy and decided to get up. He didn't especially want to see his cottage again, but he did want to sleep in his bed. As he got up, he turned to Komaeda and offered his hand.

“Thanks for staying with me,” he said. He left out the fact that he was also grateful for what he had said to him, because Komaeda probably knew it since his pain had diminished. He took his hand and got up too.

“It was nothing,” he simply answered. Hinata left unspoken how it had felt like everything to him.

They walked back to the hotel in silence, and it looked like Komaeda was bothered by something, but Hinata chose not to ask him. _I'll ask him later, when he'll be less reluctant to talk to me about it._ Hinata stopped in front of his cottage, and as he started to say 'Goodnight' to Komaeda, the latter interrupted him.

“You remember when you asked me what happened in the final dead room?” he bluntly said. It surprised Hinata, and he slowly nodded, so Komaeda continued. “While I can't tell you what happened, there was something that... I can't ignore. I was happy that I got to spend time with you tonight, but soon enough you probably won't even want to look at me anymore. And that will be understandable.”

“What? I'm not sure I get what you're saying, but if there's something wrong, you can te-”

“No, I can't tell you, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda interrupted, raising his voice. “You can't imagine how conflicted I feel at the moment to even talk to you. I'm just going to do what I have to do, no matter how much you hate me,” he finally said, voice wavering a bit. He turned and started walking to his own cottage, leaving Hinata a confused mess. “Goodnight, Hinata-kun,” he said, almost in a whisper.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, Hinata was even more worried about Komaeda than before. If he had felt safe with him on the beach, it was as if a different person had talked to him afterwards. He relucantly got to the restaurant, even if he didn't want to talk to anyone. Souda showed them the Mini-Nidai he had built, which seemed to cheer everyone up, and then Kuzuryuu talked to him.

“Hinata... When are you going to tell us about it?”

“Huh? Tell you about what?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Well, Komaeda was definitely weird at the trial. Something happened to him, right? You're the closest one of us to him, so you might know why he was acting like that.”

“Oh, well... I'm sorry, I'm as clueless as you guys here. I just know that he went to the Final dead room, and when he got out of it, he was acting like that.”

“Come on, you gotta know something!” Owari insisted. Hinata didn't really feel like telling them what Komaeda had told him before, but he decided he might as well tell them about his talent -or rather lack of.

“Well, he did tell me that... I'm different from the rest of you.”

“Is it because you're the traitor?” Souda asked, starting to get angry. No one had really brought up the subject of the traitor, but it was obviously still at the back of everyone's mind.

“No, that's not it. I... I don't have a talent. I'm from the Reserve Course.”

“The Reserve course?”

“Yeah. I'm just an ordinary person, but I got into Hope's Peak by paying an entrance fee.”

“Is that all?” Kuzuryuu asked.

“Is that seriously it? Man, I got scared for nothing...” Souda said in relief.

 _For nothing?_ Hinata thought. He almost wanted to laugh at him. The way Kuzuryuu and Souda said it, like it was something that he could easily brush off... He knew it should have made him relieved that they didn't care about him having a talent or not, and that they would accept him either way, but it made him feel more angry than anything. Of course, for them it wasn't something important. They all had a talent after all, something that they could be proud of. But he couldn't say the same thing. He had just learned that he was just an ordinary high school student, someone who could have never stepped foot in Hope's Peak Academy, the school he admired more than anything, if it wasn't for the Reserve Department.

“I thought I got into Hope's Peak Academy because I had a talent all along... But...” he tried voicing his thoughts, but he didn't want them to think he was complaining too much so he stopped there.

“Cheer up, Hinata-kun. It doesn't matter if you're from the Reserve Department...” Nanami said.

“She is right! No matter what, you are our friend!” Sonia added. It did make him feel a little better, but it might have had more of an impact if it had been said by someone who wasn't an Ultimate. After all, how could any of them say anything about it? He didn't blame them at all, but no matter what they said, they were all talented people and they couldn't understand what he was going through. Not having a talent was just a fact that he would have to accept with time, and they couldn't do anything about it. So for now, he tried to forget about it. He put that unwanted thought at the back of his mind and tried his best to ignore it while Monomi arrived, telling them that she had defeated the last Monobeast and that they would be able to visit the last island. Everyone began walking out of the restaurant, and Hinata followed them, briefly wondering where Komaeda had gone, even though he already knew he wouldn't show up at breakfast. For a moment, he stopped in his tracks, and wondered when he had started feeling so worried whenever Komaeda wasn't there.

 

* * *

 

After everyone had finished visiting the new island, they gathered in the food stalls alley and began talking about what they had found. None of them could be sure if they could trust what little information they had found.

“The Future Foundation has to be behind all this...” Sonia said.

“But they can't be our enemy, can they? I mean, they tried to stop us from killing each other!” Koizumi interjected.

“Well, how can we be sure? That's what Monomi told us, and she's with the Future Foundation. Maybe they didn't plan this system to work that way? I mean, it helped Tsumiki kill Saionji...” Souda reminded them.

“Monokuma said there is more of us than they should have been. I doubt they would do anything that might save us if they were our enemy,” Pekoyama countered.

“But if they aren't our enemy... Why did they trap us here in the first place?” Owari's question left everyone silenced. They were a lot of things pointing out to the Future Foundation being their ally, but in the end that question, amongst others, was left unanswered.

“What about the traitor?” Souda asked, breaking the silence. “Are they dangerous?”

“There was never a traitor!” Sonia exclaimed. “Monokuma lied to us so we would be suspicious of each other! How can you not believe in our friends after everything we've endured together?”

“Weak... How weak...”

Hinata immediately recognized that voice, and he turned around to see Komaeda with a blank look on his face.

“Instead of facing the problem directly and overcoming it, you're trying to run away... What a hopeless behavior.”

“Komaeda... Where have you been this whole time?” Hinata asked him, finally feeling like stepping in the situation. For a moment, he thought he saw a crack in that cold expression that the other boy had put up, but it was quickly gone. He began talking about how he was looking for the survivor of the killing school life, and how Togami couldn't have died in vain so quickly, which made Sonia angry.

“Please take back what you said about Togami-kun dying in vain! You have been acting very strange lately! I do not like this version of Komaeda-kun we have been witnessed to!”

“I don't like you either... Well, I never liked you in the first place!” Owari said.

“Oh, it looks like I'm being hated...” Komaeda said with an obviously fake look of sadness on his face. Of course, Komaeda had never cared about the Ultimates hating him, so it was natural that he wouldn't start caring about it now. He chuckled and went on. “In fact, you probably all hated me from the very beginning, didn't you? It's better this way.” He took a few steps to talk directly to Hinata. “You hate me too, right? I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't, after all,” Komaeda told him with a smile on his face.

“I don't,” he simply said. He was almost surprised by how easily it was for him to say it, no matter how intimidating Komaeda was at the moment. The latter seemed disappointed, but didn't comment on his answer and turned to talk to everyone.

“To tell you all the truth, I don't know who the traitor is. But... I'll weed out the traitor, even if it costs me my life! Now then, I should get going... But if you see Monokuma again, there's something I want you to tell him. Tell him... That he doesn't need to provide a motive anymore,” he said with finality, making Hinata shiver. Then, he simply walked away, all eyes on him. Komaeda briefly locked eyes with him, only for the slightest moment, but it made Hinata want to follow him. They were so many things preventing him from doing so ; the latter would probably avoid him and refuse to talk to him, the others would question him afterwards... He decided to stay with the rest of his classmates, even if it made him feel restless, like it wasn't the place he was supposed to be at.

“What's that supposed to mean? Is Nagito-chan planning a murder?” Ibuki asked when Komaeda was out of earshot.

“I always knew there was something wrong with him, but this is beyond expectations...” Kuzuryuu sighed. “What made him change like that?”

“I'd like to know that too,” Hinata said.

“I don't know what's up with him, but we have to do something! I mean, that guy's definitely planning to kill someone!” Souda said.

“Indeed, his aura left quite a suspicious impression...” Tanaka agreed.

“Well, even if that's the case, what can we do about it?” Koizumi asked.

“We gotta tie him up again! That's our only way!”

“But Nidai-kun's not even here anymore...” Nanami pointed out.

“Leave it to me! I can deal with someone as weak as him!” Owari fiercely said.

“If I'm needed, I can help too,” Pekoyama added.

“Then, leave it to me! Once I come up with a plan, we'll meet up again!”

Hinata wasn't sure what to do about all this. Of course, he understood why the others would feel safer by restraining him. Yet, this was really not something he wanted to participate in, so he figured that he wouldn't be taking positions and would refuse to take part of this.

 

* * *

 

“You want me to lure Komaeda?!” Hinata asked in disbelief when Souda assigned him his role.

“Well, that seems kind of obvious... Out of everyone here, you're the one he'll most likely listen to.”

“I am not doing this. I never agreed to your plan in the first place, and I don't want anything to have to do with it,” he firmly answered.

“What? Are you serious? Come on, this is for everyone's safety,” Souda insisted. This was starting to make Hinata angry.

“You can just ask someone else!”

“But you're the only one he trusts for sure!”

“Exactly! That's why I'm not doing this! Just think for a second there. Since, as you said, Komaeda trusts me, don't you think the worst thing that I could do to him would be to betray him when he already seems unstable?” he asked Souda. The latter seemed silenced, so he continued. “You do what you want, but I won't be participating in it.” With those words, he left the restaurant. And maybe, for the first time since they were put in this tense situation with Komaeda, Hinata felt like he was doing the right thing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this took so long to update! I really thought I would be able to update sooner, but this chapter was longer to write than I thought and I've been quite busy with school. We're soon getting to the end of this fic, and since I don't want to mess it up, I'm taking some time to write. I really hope you enjoyed it though!  
> Also, I can't believe we've reached 700 kudos?? it's so amazing and i'm very happy to see that you are enjoying my fic! even when it will end, i'll probably keep on posting new works ^^  
> Thank you for reading and for leaving comments and kudos!


	15. A reaching hand

Komaeda tried to remind himself of everything he had to do. His plan was a tough one, and a single mistake could make it fail entirely. There was still a lot he needed to do, preferably without meeting anyone's path. At this time, everyone was supposed to be at the hotel so he probably wouldn't see any of them if he got out of his cottage. He decided he would prepare the fire grenade, since he couldn't place the bombs at the hotel for the moment.

He went outside and took a few steps before seeing Hinata walking towards his own cottage. _Well, so much for not seeing anyone before tonight._ It seemed a bit weird that he was the only one out of the restaurant, but it wasn't what concerned him the most. It was rather the fact that he was walking at a quick pace, like he was avoiding someone, and that he had an annoyed, almost angered expression on his face. Komaeda almost wanted to ask him if something was wrong, but he chose otherwise. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but Hinata quickly adverted his gaze, his expression shifting slightly from anger to sadness, and he went inside his cottage. Komaeda wondered what happened at the restaurant. For Hinata to act like that, it must have meant that he had a fight with someone who was there. He shook his head and walked away from the hotel, reminding himself it would be better if he didn't see anyone else.

_I do want to see him, though._

Thoughts similar to this one kept passing through his head, and he almost wanted to slap himself for how miserable he was being. In a life mostly spent without anyone caring for him, he got so used to Hinata's presence over these past few days that being alone again was unbearable. But he reminded himself that it was alright, since he wouldn't be here much longer. He reminded himself that Hinata was Ultimate Despair, just like he was. He reminded himself that everyone on this island except the traitor would have to die, including him and Hinata.

Having to avoid Hinata when the latter seemed to need him was a hard thing to do. Sometimes, he almost wished he could forget everything that he saw in the files, because he didn't want to believe that Hinata was Ultimate Despair. After all, the other boy had given him so much hope in such a short amount of time, and he had really grown attached to him. Maybe it was because of the bond that linked them together, but Komaeda knew that even if he were to live longer than he was supposed to, he would never be able to forget Hinata. And that was why he missed him. Not only because of how their relationship had grown in the Funhouse, but simply as a friend, or even as a classmate who was willing to spend time with him, and listen to him, when everyone else chose not to. And so his selfish wish was to forget what he had learnt, so he could be happy with Hinata again. But it seemed fate had other plans for him, and now that he knew the truth, he couldn't ignore it.

Still, he was glad that he had been able to spend some time with him the night before even if it might have been the last time. He really cherished that moment.

And so he spent the rest of the day preparing his plan, putting the bomb in the hotel after making sure no one was in there, thinking about the smallest details of what could go wrong, and gather what he needed from the supermarket while hoping he wouldn't meet anyone -which he luckily didn't.

When Nanami told him that she needed to talk to him in the lobby, he immediately knew the rest of the class had set her up to do that. He did wonder what they wanted to ask him, but it didn't really matter. If everyone, or at least the majority of the class was already at the lobby, it made things a lot easier for him.

He was on his way to the hotel when he saw light from Hinata's cottage, meaning he was still inside. He suddenly remembered how the latter had come out of the restaurant with an angry expression on his face, and wondered if those events were related. _Could it be that he's avoiding them... ?_ he asked himself. Whatever the answer was, Komaeda still needed everyone to be in the lobby. He almost wanted Hinata not to be there, but he knew that the brunette _especially_ had to be there. It would hurt, to see how disappointed in him he would become, but that was the best way to assure he wouldn't try to stop him. If Hinata knew what he was capable of, he would surely try to avoid him. That was the reason why he needed to make sure the other boy would be there when the hotel exploded. He walked towards Hinata's cottage and knocked. The door opened, and he was greeted by Hinata's face traced with worry. It didn't stop him from feeling just a little better by having the other in front of him.

“K-Komaeda? What are you doing here?”

“Hello, Hinata-kun. You sure ask weird questions, don't you? I mean, you guys asked to talk to me.”

“Huh?”

“Nanami-san told me that she wanted to talk to me in the lobby. Everyone put her up to that, right?” he asked him. Now that he thought about it, he wondered why they told Nanami to talk to him. Surely they could have thought Hinata was the best choice, since they were almost always together. Hinata didn't look as guilty as Komaeda thought he would, and the puzzle started to assemble itself.

“Could it be that you were not aware of this? You don't seem that surprised to hear about it though... Did they decide to leave you out of it?”

“Why did you come here?” Hinata asked, changing the subject.

“Well, since you probably all wanted to _talk_ to me, I thought it would be best if everyone was there. Let's go, then, shall we?”

Hinata seemed reluctant to go. He didn't move immediately, and had a deepened frown on his face. He sighed.

“Fine, let's go.”

They got out of his cottage, and Komaeda really started to wonder what they had planned. If Hinata didn't want to go, and if his wasn't involved in the plan -whether because he was left out of it or because he decided himself-, it most likely meant that they were going to do anything but talk to him.

Then, he opened the door to the hotel after seeing Hinata's reluctance to do it himself, and-

_Oh, so that's why he didn't want to go,_ Komaeda thought as he was being tackled to the ground by both Owari and Pekoyama, and he almost wanted to apologize to Hinata because it kind of hurt. On the floor, he couldn't really look at anyone, but when he had first entered the room he saw that there were other people in the lobby. He wasn't sure if there was everyone, but there was enough people anyway and it wasn't like he could do his plan at any other time.

The bomb went off, allowing him to get free from Pekoyama and Owari's grip. A few people were on the ground, projected by the explosion. He briefly looked at Hinata who, after his initial shock, quickly ran to help those who seemed a bit hurt by the bomb. A chuckle escaped his mouth as he thought of the pit that was beginning to dig between him and the other Ultimates, including Hinata.

He didn't look at the latter as he burst out laughing.

He pretended he didn't see the hurt in Hinata's eyes as he spit out his lies about wiping out the entire island with bombs.

And of course, he tried not to wonder, even for a second, if this was the moment when Hinata would finally give up on him.

 

* * *

 

 

_If the traitor doesn't revel himself, we're all going to die._

This was the thought that kept passing through Souda's mind. He had probably never felt completely safe ever since the mutual killing game began, but as he stayed awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling, he figured this was probably the most scared he had ever been. He was completely frightened and at the same time he couldn't help but feel angry, because he was powerless. All that needed to be done to survive this threat was for someone to admit they were the traitor, and yet no one did.

Anyone could be the traitor, and yet no one came to his mind when he tried to figure out who they were. At first, he was sure that it was Komaeda, but it seemed wrong to think so now. He was probably crazy, but Souda doubted that he would go as far as to place bombs on the island and pretend he wanted to weed out the traitor more than anyone else just so the rest of them would believe he wasn't.

He began shaking slightly, so he kept his head under the covers. _I don't want to die. Please, whoever you are, just admit you're the traitor,_ he began begging to no one. He knew he wouldn't be able to get any sleep and kind of felt like getting out of his cottage, but the outdoors at night were quite scary, especially in this tense atmosphere and after what they had all been through this evening.

He stood before his door, and pondered. There was one place he wanted to go, a few meters from his cottage. Of course, he wouldn't dare to admit to himself how much he actually wanted to go there, and so he almost went back to bed. But something kept him from doing so. Maybe it was the prospect of a sleepless night, the fear of dying making it impossible to close his eyes. Or maybe it was finally admitting that he needed to see someone. Of course, he couldn't be completely sure about anyone's innocence towards being the traitor... But he still wanted to see him.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked outside. He looked up to see the dark night that could have been beautiful and comforting but was only oppressive at the moment. He took a few steps, and knocked at Tanaka's cottage. The door opened.

“Who dares to disturb the sleep-” he began, but quickly interrupted himself. “Oh, I did not expect to see you here, colorful one. What is it that you need?”

Souda wasn't sure what to answer. He couldn't simply say that he was afraid of dying and couldn't sleep or feel safe because of that, now, could he? He opened his mouth to say something, _anything,_ but Tanaka beat him to it.

“Do you wish to enter?” he said, opening the door a bit more to let him go in. Souda was thankful.

“Yeah, thanks,” he mumbled.

They both went inside, and Tanaka closed the door behind him and turned the lights on.

“Were you sleeping?” Souda asked.

“I never truly sleep,” Tanaka answered. “While I appear to be sleeping to my enemies, I stay awake, alert and aware of any danger,” he said in his usual theatrical tone. “But, to answer your question, no, I wasn't 'asleep' as you would call it. I had too much to think about for that.”

“Tell me about it,” Souda said with a sigh. “I couldn't sleep either, what with Komaeda's outburst and stuff... I mean, there was an explosion right next to me! That's never happened to me before! Everything that's happened to us on this island is completely crazy, but this is beyond expectations. And to think it's only because of one of us... I mean, it's not like this was because of Monokuma or anything...”

“Indeed, even I didn't expect such a thing to happen. But for now, unfortunately, there isn't anything that we can do about it.”

“I know, and that's why I'm so nervous... I just can't sleep knowing that there are bombs all around us just waiting to explode because of that guy, but it's not like I can do anything to fix it...”

They sat in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say. Then, Tanaka walked towards the door.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Souda asked.

“I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to improve the situation we're in at the moment. However, if you wish, we could... go for a walk. If you're nervous about what Komaeda informed us about, I suppose trying to rest would be meaningless,” he answered.

“Well, if you want to, I guess...” Souda said, not meeting the other's gaze. He followed him and left the cottage. As they walked together along the islands, Souda found himself looking at the sky once again.

And it was almost weird how, now that he had someone by his side, the night felt reassuring like it once had before.

 

* * *

 

As Hinata walked towards Nezumi's castle, he felt like his own thoughts were tearing him apart. He was with the rest of his classmates, and they were just told by Komaeda that the bombs were somewhere they had never been before, and since no one should be able to have the password to the ancient ruins, they had decided that they had to be at Nezumi's castle. But as they entered the castle, they quickly realized that they were no bombs. _Of course, it couldn't have been that easy. Not with Komaeda._

He spent the rest of his day desperately trying to find where those bombs could have been. _We can't die like this... Not after what we've been through,_ he thought. When he looked at the map on his handbook, he saw that Komaeda was in his room, and thought about going to see him, but he knew that Komaeda probably didn't want to. Exhausted mentally and physically because of the recent events, Hinata sighed. He couldn't help the frustration that Komaeda caused him. Hinata wanted to talk to him, to finally figure out what was going on with him and why he was doing all of this. He was angry at him, but at the same time he wasn't. Before entering his own cottage, he looked towards Komaeda's. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle talking the other, but he suddenly had another idea.

It might have been a foolish idea. In fact, it was probably an idea that wouldn't make Komaeda change his behavior at all- but for some reason Hinata decided to go through with it anyway. Maybe it was because he thought it might help ease his own mind a bit.

He opened the door to his cottage and took out a pen and a paper. Then, he paused, unsure of what to write. Was there anything to write to Komaeda that would make everything better? Probably not.

He decided he should write something short but meaningful, something that would let Komaeda know he didn't have to do what he was planning.

_i'm here for you._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm sorry this took so much time again, and it's shorter than usual, but I felt like it should end at this moment. I hoped you liked it anyways! We're nearing the end of this fic, and the next chapter is going to be though for me to write, but bear with me! ^^ Thank you for your comments on the last chapter and for your kudos!! I hope to see you on the next update :)


	16. Warmth

As Komaeda woke up, he instantly remembered.

_Today is the day I die._

It was an odd feeling, knowing your death was approaching. Knowing this was the last time he would wake up. Knowing that he wouldn't see the stars tonight. It might have made his heart ache a bit, but not as much as he thought it would, considering the facts. After all, when he had first came on this island, he had already known that he was going to die there. No, the most painful thing to experience was learning the truth about himself and everyone else. He couldn't think of anything more painful than this. But now, even if he couldn't completely accept it, he had at least accepted his fate. It wasn't like his life was worth anything. He had known it for years now.

After going in the restaurant to tell everyone that he had hid the bombs somewhere they had been before, he began walking towards the warehouse. Fortunately, he still had some time before the others would start searching the island since they were probably talking about how they should split up to find the bombs. His heart was beating faster and faster with each step he took, and he wanted to curse himself for how pathetic he was being. He knew that his death was approaching, but... He had been prepared for that. He should have died a long time ago. So why now? Why was he so nervous now? Was it because he was afraid something would go wrong with his plan? No, that couldn't be it. There were a lot of things that could go wrong based on how everyone would behave, yes, but he trusted his luck to make everything go right. He couldn't call himself the Ultimate Lucky Student if he wasn't lucky enough to make this work.

He finally entered the warehouse. He had already set everything up, except for the Monokuma panels along with the lighter, which he meticulously arranged. He started playing the music and walked towards the back of the room. There, lying on the floor, was the spear that would soon deal the final blow on him, and it looked like it was waiting for him. He picked it up, unable to take his eyes of what would soon kill him for a moment, before hanging it from the ceiling by its cord.

_If I were able to see you one last time, I wonder... what would I tell you?_ he asked himself. It felt so shameful to know that the last time he saw Hinata was that brief moment when he was at the restaurant with everyone else. He had tried not to look at the other too much, even though he knew it would be the last time he would be able to lay his eyes on the person he cared for so much, and who cared for him in return.

_I guess, to begin with... I would apologize,_ he thought. And there was so much he needed to apologize for. _I'm sorry that your sympathetic nature made you care for me like you did. And I'm sorry that my luck made it so we could never be together in the end._ As he thought those words that he wished to say to him, he proceeded to tie his arms and legs with rope, maybe a bit too tightly. He held the end of the spear in his head, and saw it dangling right above him. He drew a sharp breath, knowing that if he let go, his entire plan would be for nothing. _I shouldn't be so scared._ He covered his mouth with duct tape.

_I would also apologize for making you suffer with me._ He stabbed himself with the knife, first in his arm, and then in his thighs. He felt the knife go through his flesh, saw the blood oozing from his clothes, but he kept going. His throat tightened, his heartbeat going at an alarming rate. He couldn't help the way his jaw constricted itself, and how he felt the tears in his eyes, but the pain was too much. Maybe he was angry at himself for everything, and that's why he kept stabbing again and again, telling himself it would make the crime more believable. But then, he suddenly stopped. He had been blinded by his hatred for his pathetic being, so much that he had forgotten that Hinata was suffering with himself, making the pain more bearable.

He looked at the Monokuma plushie next to him, and shakily propped the knife on it. He took a deep breath that felt more like a sob. _I'm very sorry for this, Hinata-kun._ With everything he had left, he gripped on the end of the spear tighter and slammed his right hand onto the blade. He let out a scream that was inaudible because of the duct tape and the music. The pain was horrible, but perhaps looking at his hand pierced by a knife and surrounded by blood made it even worse. A couple of sobs escaped his mouth. At last, now, it was over. All he needed to do was wait, and hope Hinata feeling his pain wouldn't interfere with his plan.

_Well, I suppose, most of all... I would thank you,_ he finally thought, now that he could breath more easily. _Because it's better to be thanked rather than being apologized to, right? And there's so much I wish I could have thanked you for. I think I've already said a lot to you, but... I wish I could have said more. In another life, perhaps. In another life, perhaps we could have had a happy ending. But I don't think something like that is made for someone like me._

As he thought this, he gripped the spear even tighter, and felt a paper crumpling as he did so. He looked at his left hand, the one that held on the spear, and saw the letter that Hinata had left him earlier. _'i'm here for you',_ it said. He had thought that keeping it with him would help him do what had to be done, but for some reason, now that he saw it, everything felt worse.

_I'm sorry I couldn't be here for you as well._

 

Hinata was frantically searching the fourth island with Souda, walking, running as fast as they could through the attractions. The stress he was going through made him believe that he would never be able to enjoy amusements parks ever again in his life -that is, if he was to see one again. They were in front of the carousel when Hinata felt it, an excruciating pain in his thighs that kept him from walking. He fell to the ground, not understanding what was happening to him but unable to take one more step. Souda stopped.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Before Hinata could answer anything, he felt the same pain in one of his arms. He held it with his other hand, even if he couldn't do anything to ease the pain ; after all, it wasn't his pain. He didn't trust himself to answer Souda, so he simply showed his wrist with Komaeda's initials.

“Crap, someone's hurting Komaeda? Are they trying to kill him? No, we definitely can't let that happen...”

“There you are!” a foreign voice said. Hinata raised his head a bit and saw Kuzuryuu, who seemed to be in a hurry.

“Yeah, we're having some issues here... Apparently someone's hurting Komaeda really bad and Hinata is feeling it to, he can't walk,” Souda explained. Hinata didn't want to be a burden, and since the pain wasn't as bad as when he had just felt it, he shakily started getting up.

“N-no, I'm fine, I can wa-” he started, but was soon interrupted by an even worse deal of pain in his right hand, that made him let out a scream as he knelt on the ground. He looked at his hand that he couldn't keep steady in front of him, but as expected there was no sign of it being hurt. He tried to calm himself, telling himself that he wasn't _actually_ hurt -no matter how much pain he felt.

“Shit, he's obviously not fine- what do we do?” Souda asked.

“I came to tell you that we found the bombs. They are on the fifth island, so it's not that far from here...” Kuzuryuu said, deep in thought.

“Are you saying he has to walk there?” the other asked in disbelief.

“No, I'm saying you should carry him,” he simply answered.

“Wh- Are you serious? Why don't you carry him?”

“He's taller than me, how am I supposed to carry him?” Kuzuryuu snapped. “Now come on, don't be a baby, we don't have all the time in the world!”

Souda was about to protest again, but decided it was for the best to go with it and agreed to carry Hinata on his back.

As the three of them walked towards the fifth island, Hinata tried to ignore the pain to think. Who could have done something like that to Komaeda? It felt completely unbelievable that anyone here would be capable of such things ; whatever they were doing to Komaeda, they weren't trying to kill him, but to torture him. It was so cruel, so inhumane, so-

“ _There's so much I wish I could have thanked you for.”_

Hinata furrowed his brows. _Was that my imagination, or did I just hear Komaeda's voice?_ he thought. He started feeling a lot more worried about his current condition, because hearing voices was definitely not a sign of good health-

“ _I think I've already said a lot to you, but... I wish I could have said more.”_

There it was again. It felt so real that he could not believe it was his imagination. _Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama can hear each other's thoughts, right? Maybe that's what's happening..._

But then, was Komaeda... Talking to him? That was the option that seemed the most likely. Surely, he couldn't have known Hinata could hear him, so why was he talking to him? But, more importantly... Why was he talking like they would never see each other again?

Hinata was starting to feel sick thinking about it. A knot formed in his stomach.

“ _In another life, perhaps we could have had a happy ending. But I don't think something like that is made for someone like me.”_

_No, you're wrong,_ was what Hinata wanted to yell at the moment to the other would be able to hear him. He wanted to tell him how much he was wrong and how much Hinata thought he deserved, because _yes,_ Komaeda was imperfect -quite a bit, even-, but so was Hinata. It was weird that his feelings for Komaeda did not change a bit despite everything, but he couldn't help it, because-

He looked up and saw that they had finally arrived on the fifth island. Hinata felt like an eternity had passed. Souda slowed down a bit when they arrived in front of the factory, and they saw the rest of their classmates were already there, most of them looking at Hinata with worry.

“Do you think you can walk on your own?” he asked him. Hinata nodded, even though he felt weak when he was standing on his two feet again. “Where are the bombs then?”

“Inside the Monokuma factory. Come on, follow me,” he said before walking at a fast pace towards the factory. Hinata followed everyone, walking behind them, and glanced towards the warehouse ; he hesitated for a moment, before deciding to follow Kuzuryuu, even if he wasn't sure it was the right place to be at.

 

It didn't take long before they were all out of the factory, and walking towards the warehouse after seeing Komaeda's message on the computer. Although he tried not to let anyone worry too much, Hinata was probably feeling as bad as he had ever felt in his life. This was because of the physical and emotional pain Komaeda was going through, but also because of the mess the latter's thoughts had become. If Hinata only heard a sentence or two before, now, it felt like he could hear everything passing through Komaeda's mind. _I'm sorry for making you suffer with me._ He already found it hard to manage his own thoughts sometimes, thus sharing the thoughts of someone as complex as Komaeda was giving him a headache that made it hard to concentrate. _Thank you for making me feel worth anything._ There was too much going on at the same time, and Hinata didn't understand any of it, trying to keep up with his thoughts. _Thank you for caring about me._

He wanted to answer him like he always had, but he found himself unable to.

The door was a bit hard to open, but Owari succeeded not too long after ; and that's where it began.

Almost at the same moment as when Owari opened the door, Hinata couldn't hear anything anymore, like his and Komaeda's mind had went blank. Then, he heard a single sentence that broke the silence before his thoughts went blank again.

_Farewell, Hinata-kun._

The whole room caught on fire. He took a step back, shocked by what he was seeing.

“There should be fire extinguishing supplies inside the factory break room. Perhaps we should use those?” Sonia offered while everyone else kept panicking.

“G-Got it... Let's head to the break room!” Kuzuryuu exclaimed. Just as he finished his sentence, everyone hurried towards the factory, except for Hinata. Of course, it seemed more logical for him to wait for everyone since he could barely walk ; but that wasn't really the reason why didn't follow them.

For once, he had decided to trust his instinct.

 

Meanwhile, Komaeda, at the back of the room, tried not to think about the fact that this was the last moments of his life. In fact, he was doing his best not to think about anything, because it felt like each time a memory of his life resurfaced, it hurt him more -even when the memories were happy ones. He found that for every happy memory he held there was something that would taint it. Remembering his parents made him recall the way they died right in front of his eyes. Remembering how happy he was going to Hope's Peak made him recall that he and his classmates had embodied despair itself.

That's why the music that played in the room made Komaeda's final step of the plan -that he would be aware of- feel glorious. Moments before, everything hurt. His hand, his arms, his thighs. But now, now that he knew the final clash between the hopes of the Ultimates that he no longer felt envious of and the traitor who was meant to survive was going to happen, he felt free. He didn't have any regrets.

Right.

There was no turning back now anyway, was there?

Then, he heard a voice, shouting for him.

“Komaeda! Are you in there?”

His heart skipped a beat. He recognized that voice distinctly ; he'd been thinking about it's owner for some time now.

_Ignore it. It doesn't matter now,_ he told himself. It wasn't like there was anything he could do, in his current situation. He took a shaky breathe, and maybe it was because of the smoke stinging his eyes, or maybe it was something else like knowing Hinata was only a few meters away from him, but he realized there were tears running down his cheeks.

He stared at the spear, dangling above his chest, imagining it slowly falling and piercing his body. He wasn't sure if he would still be conscious to see it, but he was able to imagine every little detail of how it would happen, preparing for the worst. This morning, the thought of knowing he was going to die was quite odd, but this was a lot different. This morning, this moment had felt so far away, like it would never actually happen. The moment when he would be lying on the ground with every wound he had inflicted to himself hurting him and when he would be simply waiting for his death had felt like a distant one, but perhaps it was just what he unconsciously told himself because he was afraid.

And that was what he was feeling at the moment : fright. Even if this was a simulation, he knew dying in the game meant he would die in real life too. He might have repeatedly said how much he didn't mind dying, and he might have repeatedly believed it, but now that he was facing his death, it was different, even if he knew he was doing the right thing.

Just like before the fire, his mind was invaded with thoughts. Regrets. It was sad how many mundane things he realized he would have wanted to do before dying. Things that would have required going off the island, but also things that he could have done. _I wish I could have seen the house I grew up in again. I wish I could have left flowers on my parents graves one last time, the kind my mother loves, and the kind my father loves._

_I wish I could have spent more time with Hinata-kun._

Remembering his name didn't help Komaeda from tearing up.

_I wish I could have told him that I love him._

Then, Komaeda felt pain on different parts of his body. Not any kind of pain, though ; _burning._ For a moment, he was confused, because he was far enough from the fire so it wouldn't burn him. But then, as he looked at his wrist and saw Hinata's initials, it clicked. Hinata was trying to go through the fire.

_Why is he doing this? And for someone like me?_

However, he knew very well that it was impossible for anyone to get through the fire, since the curtain that had caught on fire was blocking the space he was in like a barrier. Hinata was just putting himself in unnecessary danger, and it was too late for him anyway.

“Komaeda! Where are you?” he heard Hinata screaming. He was a lot closer now, and there was nothing Komaeda could do to stop him from getting to him. But then, he began smelling the poison emanating from one of the fire grenades, and he wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or not. It wouldn't be long before he would lose consciousness.

He heard sound of footsteps that likely belonged to Hinata, and then they stopped. With the last bit of his strength, Komaeda turned his head to look at the one he loved. Unfortunately, the latter had an expression of worry and fear, but the familiar face that he associated with warm and comforting memories made Komaeda feel better and smile underneath the tape.

“K-Komaeda?” Hinata asked, in a low voice that sounded almost like a whisper -Komaeda barely heard it. Hinata was looking at Komaeda and everything around him, unable to move because of the shock caused by what he was seeing. _I'm glad you're the last thing I saw before dying._

The only thing he could smell was the poison, and it truly was an awful thing to smell before dying. He felt it go through his nostrils and make him light-headed. The smell was so strong he could almost taste it, and no matter how much time he would have wanted to spend looking at Hinata, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. And with his eyelids unable to stay open, his hand too was unable to hold on to the spear any longer. He was on the verge on unconsciousness, but even if everything was black, he could still smell the poison, meaning he would still be awake by the time the spear would go through his chest, even if he would have preferred not to. He probably deserved it, he thought.

He heard Hinata scream his name, and it hurt him how pained and sad he sounded. There was nothing he could do except wait -and it might be the longest few seconds he ever experienced, waiting for the spear to tear him apart. A million thoughts went through his head. One of them was that it was the first time he heard Hinata call him by his first name. Then they all stopped, and there was only one thing he could think about before finally releasing the spear.

_I hope we meet again._

 

Komaeda felt something hit his stomach hard, taking his breath away. The pain wasn't as bad as he was expecting it to be, though. In fact, he barely felt anything. For a second, he thought that might be because he had just died, but the sting he felt on his arms and thighs reminded him that he was still alive, which shouldn't be the case. He heard someone call his name, but he didn't have the strength to open his eyes. He felt someone untying the rope from him, and ripping the tape from his mouth.

“Komaeda, answer me please. Can you hear me?”

He recognized Hinata's voice again. Komaeda mumbled an unintelligible answer and heard the other let out a sigh of relief. The poison was fading away now, so he was able to open his eyes and look at Hinata. The latter looked at him both in relief and worry, and there was some blood on him ; probably not his own. The spear was on the ground next to him.

“What happened? How did you get through the fire?” Komaeda mumbled.

“I guess you're not the only lucky one. Who did this to you? There was a spear above you, and you were the one holding it, and if I hadn't moved fast enough, y-you- you would have...” his voice was wavering but he was talking quickly and stuttered. It was quite obvious that he was keeping himself from crying.

“I did this to myself,” he answered, and didn't miss the shock that went through Hinata's eyes. “I should have died. I don't deserve anything more than that.” Hinata stayed silent for a moment.

“Look, I know something happened to you while we were in the Funhouse, and that's what led you to do this to yourself. I've been trying to talk to you about it, but you were never willing to. After what happened, will you please explain everything to me?”

Komaeda felt intimidated under Hinata's gaze, something he wasn't used to.

“Why would I? It's not like anything has changed-”

“Of course something has changed!” Hinata snapped, interrupting and surprising him. “You almost died! And you know what? For a moment, I thought I was going crazy, but I heard you. I heard your thoughts. You can't lie to me. I know that you think you deserve to die, but deep down, you don't want to. I know you have your reasons, but I also know you can't look me in the eyes and tell me you really want to die,” he said with an ire Komaeda wasn't used to. He was almost tempted to tell him that he wanted to die, but he also knew that wasn't true. No matter how much he knew that he and everyone else should die, and no matter how selfish it was of him to feel that way, he wanted to keep on living.

“You're right,” he simply answered while getting up in a sitting position. “I wish I didn't feel that way, but I don't want to die. I thought it was too late for me when I realized that,” he confessed.

“Well it's not,” Hinata told him. “It's going to be okay now, right?” he said, looking right in his eyes and smiling in an unsure way. Komaeda returned his smile.

“I don't know, but... I'll tell you what I've been keeping from you, even though it will be hard to hear.”

“It's alright. You know, I... I really thought you were going to die. I realized how much that thought scared me, and that I would hate to live a life without you in it. As long as you're here, I feel like it's going to be fine. I... I love you.”

“I love you too,” Komaeda answered.

_I'm glad I got a chance to say it to you._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here!!  
> I can't believe it took me so long to write this T_T this chapter was probably one of the most important so I really didn't want to mess it up, I really hope it was worth the wait!  
> As you can see I finally set a number of chapters, and we're reaching the end! The next chapter will be kind of an epilogue ^^  
> I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter and motivated me to write this one, and to everyone who has commented on this fic so far and left kudos. It really means a lot!!


	17. Future

Komaeda feels a gentle breeze on his face, and his hair is tickling his mouth. It's only a slight breeze, but the cold is enough to make him frown and slowly open his eyes. It's almost hard for him to do so, and it makes him wonder how much he slept. He doesn't even remember going to sleep. In fact, he's not sure what's the last thing he can remember, or what day it is. When he opens his eyes entirely, he can only see white but when they finally adjusts to the light he can make out a ceiling. There's a beeping noise in the background, steady and breaking the silence.

It takes all the strength in him to move his fingers, but he realizes that he can't move them on his left hand. Confused, he raises his arm and begins panicking when he sees that his hand is missing. His heartbeat quickens, and for some reason the faint beeping noise he kept hearing does too. He looks at his left side and sees a machine connected to him, which makes him understand that he's in a hospital.

Slowly, his memories resurface. He remembers the island, the killings, the despair he felt, so much despair... He remembes meeting Junko Enoshima, the cause of it all. The anger he felt resurfaces and he clenches his fist at the memory of what she did, but also what he did to himself and others. But he also remembers Hinata, their confessions to each other, and the hope. Slowly, the ire goes away and he takes a few deep breaths. Together, they were able to defeat Junko and believe in the future, despite all they learned about themselves.

He sees something moving on his right side, and he turns his head to see Hinata, sitting on a chair next to his bed and sleeping. He looks slightly older than Komaeda is used to, and the change surprises him. His face is lit by the light coming from the window in the room, and Komaeda can't take his eyes of him. He briefly wonders how long he has been there, sleeping next to him.

As Hinata slowly wakes up (probably because of the noise Komaeda's panicked heartbeat made), he is unable to let out a sound -he thinks he might have stopped breathing for a moment. Hinata, unaware, yawns and rubs his eyes before setting his gaze on Komaeda and freezing. They both look at each other, not daring to move, before Komaeda weakly clears his throat.

“Um... Hi,” he lamely says, his voice still raspy.

“Nagito,” he simply says. “You're awake,” he states, voice wavering from emotion.

“It would seem so,” he answers with a smile.

“I- You-” Hinata stammers, unsure of what to do. His eyes seem to be watering, and he gets closer to Komaeda and puts his hand on his shoulder, as if he was assuring himself that he was real, before pulling him into a tight hug. Komaeda can feel the other shaking in his embrace.

“Are you okay?” Komaeda inquires. Hinata lets out a chocked laugh.

“Are you kidding me? I should be the one asking you that...” he pulls away and looks at Komaeda, fondness and disbelief in his eyes. “I missed you so much.” This surprises Komaeda a little.

“How long have I been sleeping? I thought we would all wake up at the same time, except for the people who died in the simulation...” Komaeda ponders. Hinata blinks, still shocked from seeing the other awake.

“Ah, well, your case is a little different... Because of your bad health and the repercussions of what the events of the simulation did to your brain, you were in a coma. I woke up around a year ago, and the last person to wake up was Tsumiki who woke up three months ago.”

“Are you saying...”

“You're the last one,” Hinata says and Komaeda can't help but feel guilty, although it wasn't really his fault. He offers the other a sad smile.

“Ah... It seems I took my time. I'm sorry for the wait,” he says, and before Hinata can contradict him, he adds, “That aside, you do look older and quite different. If I may ask... Why is one of your eyes red?”

Hinata pauses, before answering. “Do you remember Kamukura Izuru?” The name makes some memories resurface, both from the real life and from the simulation.

“Right, I remember... Hope's Peak decided to create someone who possessed all known talents. That was you, right?” Hinata nods.

“When I woke up, well, I was still Kamukura Izuru, but I was also Hinata Hajime. The Future Foundation probably wanted to erase Izuru and bring back Hajime, but they only succeeded in one of those things.”

“So... Are you both of them?”

“I'm not sure myself. I've been told that I sometimes act a lot like Hajime, and sometimes more like Izuru. I guess I'm a mix of them. I still have all of Izuru's talents, so he can't be gone, but I have Hajime's emotions, so it must mean both of them are here.”

“I see... Is it hard for you?” he asks. Hinata's eyes expression darkens a little.

“I guess it can be kind of... confusing, sometimes,” he answers, and Komaeda knows that there is probably a lot more to what he's feeling than “confusing”, but he won't ask for the moment. “But now is not the time to talk about that. I mean, you finally woke up! I have to tell the others, they're going to be so happy to know that you're awake.”

Komaeda smiles at him, but remembers that something else had been bugging him. He looks at his left hand -or rather, lack of.

“I see that you decided to cut it off,” he says without really any emotion but disdain at the memory of what he did.

“It was... in a bad shape.” _Rotten_ , is what he's too kind to say, probably. _Disgusting_ is the only thing Komaeda can thing of. “I hope you don't mind... I thought you wouldn't want to see it when you woke up, and the others agreed, but it was still me who made the decision so if you're unhappy then-”

“It's alright,” he interrupts. And it really is. If there was one thing he wanted to see even less than a missing space where his hand used to be, it would be _her_ hand replacing it. Although he can't help but think that every time he would look at his hand or try to do anything with it, he would be reminded of his past mistakes. It sets a feeling of dread in his stomach. Hinata must have seen his worry, because he starts talking again.

“I made you a prosthetic hand,” he blurts out. Komaeda snaps his head towards him, eyes wide open and waiting for him to explain. Hinata coughs and starts again. “I thought you'd miss... uh... having two hands, so I decided to make you a new one. I'm not sure it'll work though, it's still a prototype, but if you want it, well the offer's open,” he says. Komaeda isn't sure what to answer. He smiles.

“Hajime, I'm not sure what I did to deserve your kindness... And yes, I would really like that,” he says, and Hinata releases a sigh of relief. “Ah, there's something that I meant to say... I... I hope I haven't made you worry too much. It must have been troublesome for everyone to take care of me while I was in a coma... I'm sorry again.”

“Are... Are you really apologizing for being in a coma?” Hinata asks, once again in disbelief. “It's not your fault. And of course I was worried, but it's only because I care about you. A lot, to be honest. I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky student too, and yet the person I wanted to talk to again the most was the last one to wake up...”

Komaeda can feel his cheeks heating up at his words, and looks away. “Well, if your luck is anything like mine, that means there must be good things awaiting us.”

Hinata beams at him and takes his hand, intertwining their fingers together. “As long as there's an _us_ in the future, then it can only be good things.”

 

* * *

 

Komaeda wakes up, this time, on an operation table. Hinata is, once again, at his side. He's quick to notice him this time, and he smiles at him as soon as he sees that he's awake.

“Welcome back,” he says. For a brief moment, Komaeda is confused, unsure of what he's doing here, but then he remembers and looks at his left hand. Instead of the stump he has somewhat become accustomed to, there's a robotic hand. He sits up and touches it with his right hand, and he's surprised at how real it feels. When he compares his two hands, they have the same size, shape -almost like he simply but a glove on his left hand. Hinata has told him that he would be able to feel things like before with it, but he didn't expect it to be so... perfect.

“What do you think?” Hinata asks, breaking the silence, a little nervousness showing on his face. Komaeda doesn't think the brunette realizes how grateful he feels towards him for everything he did, and he doesn't even think he could put it into words. He tries to anyway.

“Hajime... Thank you so much. I'm really grateful,” he tells him, and feels annoyed at how little it expresses what he means. He looks at his hand again, and his expression soften. He knows that when he'll look at it, it's not _her_ face that will come to his mind, it's not his mistakes that he will remember ; instead, he will remember the person who gave him everything -the feeling of being loved, a future to look forward to, and hope. As he looks at his new hand, another one comes into view, intertwining their fingers together, metal against flesh. He can feel the warmth coming from it, along with the shape of his lips as he brings them to his fingers to gently kiss them.

As he looks and returns Hinata's soft smile, he feels like the other can understand him completely. He figures that after everything they lived through together, maybe they don't need words after all. He finds it ironic ; it's at this moment that he feels the most attached to Hinata, when there should be nothing linking them together.

And even if there was, there's no pain to be felt anymore.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's! finally!! completed!!!
> 
> I can't believe it took me so long to write the last chapter, especially since it was so short T_T I'm so sorry to have made you all wait, but I hope it was worth it!! I want to thank each and everyone of you who read my fic, left kudos, bookmarks, and so many nice comments! you're all so sweet and i'm really grateful!
> 
> I hope you liked this last chapter as much as the others, it's shorter but it has all of what I wanted to say in it! I have to admit that one of the reasons it took so long is that I kinda stopped reading dr fics so it was harder to write but I'm happy with how it turned out! also i was nervous of posting the last chapter ><
> 
> I think I might post other komahina fanfictions that I worked on if I'm happy with them (I also might write some things for persona 5 if any of you are interested) and now that I'm on holidays I have the time to write! 
> 
> As I mentionned before my tumblr username is [asterodroid](https://asterodroid.tumblr.com/) I mainly just reblog things but if you want to talk to me about this fic or komahina or anything really please do!!!
> 
> Again, a HUGE thank you to all of you for following this fic, it was the first one I ever posted and it was really a good experience for me so I hope that was the case for you too <3


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